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PRICE, FIFTY VENTS. 

THE LIFE OF 

Rev. JOHN WESLEY, A. M. 

Written from a Spiritual Standpoint. 

WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS. 

BY 

REV. EDWARD DA VIES, 

AUTHOR OF " THE LIVES OF BISHOP TAYLOR, REV. THOMAS HARRISON, 

HESTER ANN ROGERS, AND FRANCIS RIDLEY HAVKRGAL," 

" THE LAW OF HOLINESS," " CONTRAST BETWEEN 

INFIDELITY AND CHRISTIANITY," 

" ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK 

ON AFRICA," ETC. 



INTRODUCTION BY DR. CHARLES CULLIS. 



1 History is Philosophy Teaching by Example.' 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, HEADING, MASS. 

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Fourth Avenue, New York, and 813 Arch Street, Philadelphia- 

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Arch street. Philadelphia: T. B. ARNOLD, 106 Franklin 

Street, Chicago; and Religious Booksellers generally. 






^ 



WORKS OF REV. E. DAVIES. 

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, and Select 
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11 This is truly an excellent work. Most heartily do we commend 

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" A wonderful record of God's marvellous works." 

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For Family Reading and Sabbath Schools. Fine Steel En- 
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" Rev. E. Davies has collected a goodly number of Gem9 and 

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Tex Commandments. Showing the relation of the Deca- 
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CONTRAST BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND IN- 
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ROGERS. Condense and combined. Price, cloth, 50 cents. 

LIFE OF FRANCES RIDLEY IIAYERGAL. With 
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• \<> Christian can read this biography without acquiring a sharp 

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Ami hook *eni by mail on receipt of j 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, Reading, Mas*. 



ft' 



1 4 
Id. 



^•>-7 



THE LIFE OF 

4 4>>'« «■ 



Rev. JOHN WESLEY, A. M. 



Written from a Spiritual Standpoint, 
WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS. 

BY 

EEV. EDWAED DAVIES, 



AUTHOR OF " THE LIVES OF BISHOP TAYLOR, REV. THOMAS HARRISON, 

HESTER ANN ROGERS, AND FRANCIS RIDLEY HAVERGAL," 

" THE LAW OF HOLINESS," " CONTRAST BETWEEN 

INFIDELITY AND CHRISTIANITY," 

"ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK 

ON AFRICA," ETC. 



INTRODUCTION BY DR. CHARLES CULLIS. 






i j a 1 1 & a I c j 
1 History is Philosophy Teaching by Exan 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 

Willard Tract Repository, Beacon Hill Place, Boston. 239 

Fourth Avenue, New York, and 813 Arch Street, Philadelphia; 

McDonald & Gill, 36 Bromfield Street, Boston ; Palmer 

& Hughes, Bible House. New York; T. T. Tasker, 921 

Arch Street, Philadelphia; T. B. Arnold, 106 Franklin 

Street, Chicago ; and Religious Booksellers generally. 



THE LltlAlY] 

OF C OMQt ESsj 

WAtlllWOTOIll 



3^:^ 
.^^ 



To the 

MINISTRY AND MEMBERSHIP 

of the 

VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 

and to 

ALL LOVERS OF A PURE LITERATURE 

THIS VOLUME 
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



Copyright, 1887, by E. Davies. 



INTRODUCTION. 



MOT long since a company of ministers, of different 
denominations, were seated together at dinner. 
One of the number (a Methodist) began to relate an 
incident in the life of Wesley. Just as he commenced, 
and mentioned the name, one asked, "Who was John 
Wesley?" The minister began to explain, to describe 
John Wesley, at which there was a general laugh. He 
found he was casting pearls before — clergymen, who 
knew nearly as much about John Wesley as he did. 
And so, when Rev. E. Davies asked me to write an 
introduction (as I had suggested the preparation of a 
Life of John Wesley that would be within the reach of 
all classes), it seemed almost as needless as for the 
Methodist preacher to explain who John Wesley was. 
For, in the life and times of this torch-bearer of truth, 
was enkindled a blaze whose light and glory has not 
been extinguished, nor, indeed, can ever be while reve- 
lation declares the fulness of salvation in Christ, and 
the great heart of mankind yearns for the glorious 
reality. 

It is only for us to add, thanks be unto God for 
giving John Wesley to the world, while we leave our 
request with Him, that " speaking the truth in love, 
we may grow up into Him, in all things, which is the 
head, even Christ." 

Yours in Him, 

Charles Cullis. 



PREFACE. 



REASONS FOR ANOTHER LIFE OF JOHN WESLEY. 

1. To refresh the memory of the fathers in Israel, 
who read his life many years ago. 2. To furnish the 
young of the present generation with a live, condensed, 
and deeply interesting life of this man of God. 

3. To place this life within the reach of the toiling 
millions, at a small price, and in an attractive form. 

4. To bring out the spiritual part of this remarkable 
life, thus furnishing a rich feast for the Christian 
reader. 5. Because Mr. Tyermen, in his elaborate 
" Life of John Wesley," is so severe on the faults — 
or the appearance of faults — in Wesley's life. 

There seems to be a prevailing disposition to spread 
out any defects in the character of this most excellent 
man. This is clearly shown in the following criticism 
from Dr. Rigg, in his " Living Wesley :" " In my judg- 
ment, Mr. Tyerman has over-done his fidelity. He 
seems to have acted the part, almost whenever possible 
of Advocatus diaboli — to have chosen, as a rule, the 
worst construction which, with anything like probability, 
could be put upon Wesley's life and character. He 
never gives the benefit of the doubt, as it seems to us, 
to the accused, but always to the accuser. Consider- 
ing who and what Wesley was, and what his ante- 
cedents and independent character must be admitted 
to have been, this appears not to be judicially fair. 
Besides this, there is a tone in his dealings with 
Wesley which fairly astonishes one, at times ; he 



PREFACE. V 

censures, he pronounces, he condemns ; and this too, 
in a tone of harshness, in some instances, and of 
lofty decision, as if he were Wesley's superior and 
judge. I believe that Macaulay — it is quite certain 
that Southey — would never have ventured, in so ab- 
solute, unceremonious, dictatorial a style, to pronounce 
censure on John Wesley, They would have felt their 
own inferiority to him ; that if he sometimes erred, he 
was at least a great and good man, a venerable saint, 
as to whom they would not venture to pronounce an 
unfavorable judgment, even in individual acts of his 
life, without modesty and self-restraint — without what 
the Romans would have called verecundia. Mr. 
Tyerman has not been restrained by any such feelings.' ' 

6. I have written this book at the request of a 
man of God, whose judgment I revere more than 
my own, who has kindly consented to write the 
Introduction. 

7. In waiting this book, I have consulted every 
book I could find on John Wesley, in the public and 
private libraries within my reach ; and have searched 
as for hid treasures, to find the striking facts of this 
man's wonderful life. I have spared no expense of 
time or money to make this an invaluable book to the 
Christian public ; yea, to all who are concerned to 
know the life and times of this heroic and God- 
honored man. 

8. It has seemed to me that no one author has 
given Mr. Wesley credit for the deep-toned spirituality 
that he possessed. Many writers have been so taken up 
with his great success in founding Methodism, and 
confounding Calvinism, that they have only looked 



VI PREFACE. 

occasionally to the secret spring of all his success: 
namely, his close and constant communion with God, 
and his utter consecration to God, to do all his will, 
and to do it all the time, and to do it with an alacrity 
and delight that resembles the angels in heaven, who 
"run and return like a flash of lightning," and who 
were, no doubt, constantly attending his steps, and 
protecting his life. So far as I know my own heart, 
I have written this book in an atmosphere of perfect 
love, and have sought to bring out those heavenly 
traits of character which John Wesley undoubtedly 
possessed. 

9. The careful reader will find, not only the life 
of John Wesley, but also sketches of some of his 
fellow-laborers, as George Whitefield, John Fletcher, 
Thomas Walsh, and others. 

10. I lay no claim to originality, unless it be in 
the selection and the arrangement of the materials of 
which this book is composed. 

11. I ask, and expect, the kindly forbearance of 
my superiors in learning, and in writing, who will, no 
doubt, discover many imperfections. I have simply 
done what I could to embalm the memory, and hold 
up the example of that eminent apostle of the 
eighteenth century, whose name is as "ointment 
poured forth," and whose memory will become increas- 
ingly precious as time and eternity roll on. It is all 
laid at the feet of Jesus, who is indeed the Lord of 
all, by 

Edward Da vies. 

Heading, Mass., Dec. 25, 1S86. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Prevailing Wickedness of the Times— Importance of Biography— 
Wesley's Birth and Surroundings— Samuel Wesley— Fire at 
Epworth Parsonage— Wesley's Home Education— Early Ad- 
mitted to the Sacrament — Mother's Consecration— Charter 
House School — Ambition — Confessions of Sin — Unnatural 
Noises at Epworth— Westminster School— Oxford College- 
Parents Poor— Reads "Christian Pattern" — Begins to Write 
His Journals— Discussion on Predestination. 

CHAPTER II. 

Ordained Deacon— Elected Fellow of Lincoln College— Master of 
Arts— Ordained Priest— Preaching without Power— Seeking 
Holiness— Careful of His Company— Curate for His Father- 
Rigid Economy— Closet Devotions— Reading on Horseback- 
Father Dies— Moderator of the Classes— Preached at St. Mary's 
—Is Not Born of the Spirit— Defines Holiness— Begins to Pub- 
lish Books— John and Charles Go Out Into the World as Re- 
formers. 

CHAPTER III. 

Urged to Become a Missionary— Decides to Leave All— Starts for 
America— Hopes to be Converted— Moravian Brethren on 
Board— Oglethorpe's Rage Subdued— Rough Voyage— Wesley 
Afraid— Arrives at Savannah— Meets Moravian Elder— Con- 
fesses His Need of True Religion— Multiplied Religious Ser- 
vices—Opposition—Suffers by Missing His Way— A Woman 
Cuts Off His Hair— Lacks Spiritual Power— Miss Hopkey— 
Thinks of Marriage— Moravians Discourage Him— Complaints 
Against Wesley— Advised to Return to England— Suffers Much 
in Reaching a Seaport— Sails for England— Self -Examination— 
Fearful Storms at Sea — Lessons Learned — Arrives in England 
—George Whitefield's Testimony. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Oxford Learning and Moravian Teaching— Peter Bohler Convinced 
of Unbelief— Living Faith— Last Retreat— Preaches Faith Be- 
fore He Has It— Charles Wesley Converted— John Wesley Con- 
verted—Fear Turned into Love— Buffeted— Mother's Joy— 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Visits Hernhutt, Germany— Greatly Edified— Returned to Eng- 
land—Began to Preach with Power — Many Churches Closed- 
Fiery Zeal— Preached at Oxford— Life of Halyburton— Charac - 
ter of a Methodist— Love Feast in Fetter Lane— Persecutions- 
Wales— Building Chapels— Blasphemers Smitten— Class Meet- 
ings Organized— Differs from Moravianism— Horrible Decree 
of Predestination. 

CHAPTER V. 
Band Meetings— Lay Preachers— Wesley in Newcastle— Preached 
on His Father's Tombstone— General Rules— Holy Triumph — 
Rabble and Riot — Evil Spirits— Itinerant Labors— Seeking Ho- 
liness—His Life Testimony— Christian Perfection Denned — 
Set Against Fanaticism. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mockers Converted— Labors at Oxford— Nigh Unto Death— Prayer 
Prevails— Poetic Spirit— Great Itinerant— Crossing the Trent 
— Quarterly Class Tickets — Awful Convictions — Quaker's 
Dream— Fearful Riots in "the Black Country "—Power Over 
Enemies— Divine Peace— Charles Wesley's Courage— Prayer 
Book in a Tavern— Conquering Cornwall— Feeding on Berries 
—More Chapel Room Wanted— Sick Visitors— Satan Opposes— 
His Publications Multiply— Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason 
and Religion — Content with His Lot. 

CHAPTER VII. 

John Nelson Pressed for a Soldier— First Conference— Doctrines 
Discussed— Questions of Discipline— Seminary for Workers- 
Cornwall— Great Power in Preaching— Sick of Sublime Divin- 
ity—Healed by the Prayer of Faith— Law Taking Its Course- 
Labors in Wales— Bristol— Oxford's Spiritual Christianity- 
Resigned His Fellowship— Hard Winter Travels— Taken In 
to Custody— Still Preaching— Methodists in Battle— Scotland- 
Christian Perfection, Testimonies Thereon— Writing and Pub- 
lishing—Rules for Bands— Prayer of Entire Consecration- 
Jonathan Edwards— Revival Extravagances. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Various Controversies— Antinomianism— Offender Humbled— Rules 
for Stewards— Abridging Useful Books— " I am John Wesley 
Himself "—Dread of Popularity— Charles Stuart's Invasion- 
Mighty Prayers for Deliverance— Sick of Opinions— John Nel- 
son—His Fearful Persecutions— Wesley Preaching to Great 
Crowds— Rev. Vincent Perronet— Methodism Established— 



CONTENTS. IX 

Sudden Conversions— Constantly Reading and Writing— Great 
Self-Possession — Great Benevolence — Methodist Singing— 
Watch-Nights— Ordination for His Preachers— Gifts, Graces, 
Fiuits — Prudent Treatment of Entire Sanctiiication — No 
Formal Separation from the Church— Methodism a Permanent 
Organization— Macauley's Estimate of Wesley— His Approach 
to Death— Writes His Epitaph— Raised in Answer to Prayer- 
Writing Books when Too Weak to Preach. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Preachers in Morpeth— Many Electrified in London— Extensive 
Travels— Grace Murray— John Bennet— Fiery Trials— Keeps on 
Preaching— Is Married to Mrs. Yazel— Leaves His Bride, and 
Goes on Preaching— Character of Mrs. Wesley— She Travels 
with Wesley— They Begin a Suffering Life— Packet of Letters- 
Watched over for Evil— She Leaves Him— Interpolated Letters 
—Lays Violent Hands on His Person— His Kind Letter— Thirty 
Years Married Misery— Her Death— His Sublime Career. 

CHAPTER X. 

Wesley's Preaching— Great Variety of Sermons— His Style— Dr. 
Southey— Dr. Riggs' Estimate— Great Power over the People- 
Thomas Jackson— Preaching at Epworth— His Figure in the 
Pulpit— Fearless and Faithful— Examples— Preaching before 
the University— Cowper on Wesley— Dr. Riggs' Testimony- 
Preaching at Billingsgate— Dr. Stevens' Testimony. 

CHAPTER XI. 

George Whitefield in Scotland— His Power in Preaching and in 
Self-Command — People of Rank Coming to Christ — David 
Hume — Slaying Power — Wesley in Scotland — Christopher 
Hopper— Great Indifference— Edinburgh— Plain Preaching- 
No Great Success— Scotland Not Favorable to Methodism— 
Whitefield's Opinion. 

CHAPTER XH. 

Methodism in Ireland— Dublin Society— Early Impressions not last- 
ing—Excessive Cordiality— Charles Wesley in Ireland— Fearful 
Persecutions — Converts Multiplied — Catholic Opposition- 
Wesley's Hearty Welcome— Great Crowds— Preaches on the 
Terrors of the Law— A Loving People, of Great Simplicity- 
Three Months of Mob Rule at Cork— Charles Wesley in Court- 
Charges Against Him— All the Preachers in Court— Chapels 
Built— John Smith and Wm. Hunter Preaching Among the 



X CONTENTS. 

Mountains— The Saintly Thomas Walsh, a Converted Papist- 
He Preaches with Power to the Catholics— His Memory a 
Concordance of the Bible— Wesley Spends Six Years in 
Ireland— John Fletcher and Thomas Walsh— Walsh's Death, 
after a Mighty Conflict— Duncan Wright and His Career — Ad- 
Vice to an Irish Worker— Great Liberality. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Christian Perfection in Its Relation to John Wesley— Its History 
Among the Methodists— Wesley in 1733— Revival of Sanctifica- 
tion in 1760 — Methodist day of Pentecost— Wesley's Critical 
Examination of Witnesses— Sermons on Christian Perfection- 
Summing up the Whole Matter — Warnings— Bishop Gibson- 
Obtained by Faith— Description of a Methodist— Wesley Must 
Have Professed Perfect Love— Wesley's Profession of Perfect 
Love — He Lived a Life of Holiness— Expressly Professed It — 
Dr. Coke's Delineation of Wesley— God" s Chosen Leader- 
Admission of Ministers to Conference— Tyerman's Testimony 
Doubted— Dr. Whitehead's Estimate— Turning the Other Cheek 
— Letter to Bishop Asbury— Dr. Buckley's Answer. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

John Wesley and John Fletcher— John Wesley and Martin Luther- 
Fletcher on Wesley— Their First Meeting— Lady Huntingdon— 
Calvinistic Controversy— God Overruling It All- Fletcher's 
Checks— Lady Huntingdon Displeased— Six Years' Controversy 
—Its Influence on the World— Wesley's Estimate of Fletcher- 
Fletcher's Estimate of Himself. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Wesley in Advanced Life — Fruitful in Old Age — Abstemious— Mar- 
vellous Old Man— Great Student— A Wonder to Himself— Well 
Preserved in Body and Soul, Reasons— Begins to Falter— Still 
Preaching— Benevolence— Desiring Rest— Last Out-door Ser- 
vice—No Universalist— Letter to Adam Clarke — Relation to the 
Church— Last Sermon— Worn Out in Body— Cheerful in Spirit 
Last Sickness— No Conflict^Triumphant Death— Burial. 

CHAPTER XYI. 

Estimates of His Character— Wilberforce— Dr. Punshon's Testimony 
—Alexander Knox— Dr. Thomas Coke's Eulogy— Dr. Riggs— 
Dr. Abel Stevens— Wesley and Bradford— Wesley in Westmin" 
ster Abbey— Dean Stanley— Wesley's Travels— Dr. Whitehead's 
Testimony. 



LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER I. 



HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 

The early part of the eighteenth century was a 
very important portion of British history. The 
English army under the Duke of Marlborough had 
gained many victories on the contiuent of Europe. 
It is said that philosophy and polite learning 
flourished beyond any former period. Sir Isaac 
Newton had just astonished the civilized world 
with his wonderful discoveries in science. Indeed, 
this was called the Augustan age of English 
literature. 

At this very time in the quiet home of the Ep- 
worth rectory, in obscurity and poverty, in sorrow 
and in many prayers, Mrs. Susanna Wesley and 
her faithful husband, Samuel Wesley, were train- 
ing up a worthy family of noble children, two of 
whom were to be the means of reviving the 



12 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

spirit of Christianity in its primitive simplicity 
and power, not only in Great Britain but all over 
the civilized world. 

Infidelity was rampant and manifested itself not 
only in downright blasphemy, but also in philo- 
sophical speculation. The writings of the leading 
skeptics of the age were scattered among the 
people ; Hobbes, Toland, Collins, Bolingbroke 
and others. Bishop Burnet, then in his seventieth 
year, said, "I cannot look on without the deepest 
concern, when I see the eminent ruin hanging 
over the church, and, by consequence, over the 
whole Eeformation. The outward state of things 
is black enough, God knows, but that which 
heightens my fears arises chiefly from the inward 
state into which we are fallen." Bishop Gibson 
says, "Profaneness and iniquity are grown bold 
and open." Bishop Butler wrote, "It is come to 
be taken for granted by many persons that 
Christianity is not so much a subject of inquiry ; 
but that it is now at length discovered to be 
fictitious. Accordingly they treat it as if this 
were an agreed point among all people of discern- 
ment, and nothing remained only to set it up as a 
principle subject of mirth and ridicule." Dr. Isaac 
Watts accounted for this state of things as follows : 
"I am well satisfied that the great and general 
reason of this is the decay of vital religion in the 



METHODISM. 13 

hearts and lives of men, and the little success that 
the ministrations of the *gospel have had of late 
in the conversion of sinners to holiness." Indeed 
it seemed as though England had well nigh filled 
up the measure of her iniquity, and that the 
judgments of God might have fallen upon the 
nation if some great evangelizing power had not 
been raised up to stem this tide of moral and 
spiritual death. It was in jiist such a time that 
the founder of Methodism was born, and Method- 
ism began to prevail, which was a revival Church 
in its spirit, and a missionary Church in its organ- 
ization ; a resuscitation of the spiritual life and 
practical aims of primitive Christianity." 

As time rolls on the illustrious dead increase 
in the admiration of men and of angels. He who 
writes the biography of another is holding a con- 
test with time and with oblivion, to preserve the 
names and the achievements of those who have 
gone before. He is holding them in everlasting 
remembrance. The Holy Bible is full of biog- 
raphies, both of the righteous and of the wicked, 
"Who being dead, yet speak." Some one has 
wisely said that, "Of all species of literary com- 
position, perhaps, biography is the most delight- 
ful. The attention concentrated on one individ- 
ual gives a unity to the materials of which it is 
composed, which is wanting in general history. 



14 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

The train of incidents through which it conducts 
the reader, suggests to his imagination a multitude 
of analogies and comparisons ; ancl while he is 
following the course of events which mark the life 
of him who is the subject of the narrative, he is 
insensibly compelled to take a retrospect of his 
own. In no other species of writing are we 
permitted to scrutinize the character so exactly, 
or form so just and accurate an estimate of the 
excellencies and defects, the lights aud shades, 
the blemishes and beauties, of an individual mind." 

John Wesley was one of the nineteen children of 
Mrs. Susanna Wesley and of his father, Samuel 
Wesley. Nine of these children died in infancy. 
John Wesley was born at Epworth, England, 
on the seventeenth day of the beautiful month of 
June, 1703. 

His father was both a learned and a laborious 
minister of the Episcopal Church, and rector of 
the parish of Epworth for thirty-nine years, from 
1696 to 1735. 

When John Wesley was born, Queen Anne had 
just taken the throne of England. Immorality 
was predominant, and spiritual darkness prevailed. 
The Bishop of Litchfield said in a sermon, "The 
Lord's day is now the devil's market day. More 
lewdness, more drunkenness, more quarrels and 
murders, more sin is contrived and committed 



COURT OF CHARLES II. 15 

than on all the other days of the week. Strong 
drinks have become the epidemic distemper of the 
city of London. Sin in general has become so 
hardened and rampant, as that immoralities are 
defended, yes, justified on principle. Every kind 
of sin has found a writer to teach and vindicate it. 
Gin drinking had become a mania, on the signs 
of some of these gin palaces it was advertised that 
they would make a man drunk for a penny, and 
find him straw to lie upon till he was sober. The 
licentiousness of the Court of Charles II still 
festered amon^ the higher classes, and laziness 
and dishonesty among the lower classes. Super- 
stition flourished till they imagined every old 
mansion in England was haunted by a ghost. 
Extravagance prevailed among the rich and the 
poor. Never has a century risen on Christian 
England so void of soul and faith as that which 
opened with Queen Anne, and which reached its 
misty noon beneath the Second George, a dewless 
night succeeded by a sunless dawn. There was 
no freshness in the past and no promise in the 
future. The Puritans were perished and the 
Methodists were not born. The philosopher of 
the age was Bolingbroke. The moralist was 
Addison, the minstrel was Pope, and the preacher 
was Atterbury. The world had the idle, discon- 
tented look of the morning after some mad 
holiday." « 



16 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

At the time John Wesley was born his brother 
Samuel was thirteen years of age, who soon after 
was sent to the Westminster School, where he 
became a noted scholar, and he became also 
acquainted with a host of literary friends. 

At this time his father was writing the history 
of the Old and New Testament in verse. Before 
John Wesley was three years old his father was 
put in goal for debt, and before he was six the 
parsonage was destroyed by fire. At the time 
of the fire Charles Wesley was less than two months 
old, and he, with John, three of their sisters and 
their nurse, were all in the same room and fast 
asleep. Being aroused, the nurse seized Charles 
and told the rest to follow, they all followed the 
nurse except John, who was still asleep. In the 
midst of the hurry, the venerable father counted 
his children, and soon found that John was not 
there, but meanwhile John awoke and climbed 
on to a chair and stood looking out of the window. 
Immediately the father tried to ascend the flaming 
stairs but found it impossible. He dropped on 
his knees in the blazing hall and commended him 
to God. But, quick as thought, one man stood 
upon the shoulders of another and took the dear 
boy out of the window just before the roof fell in. 
Thus the future benefactor of his race and the 
founder of Methodism was snatched "as a brand 
from the burning." 



joiix's disposition. 17 

Mrs. Wesley was unique in the principles on 
Which she acted. The one year old children were 
taught to fear the rod, and were only to cry in 
softened tones. They were all taught the Lord's 
prayer, and rudeness was never seen among them. 
Six hours a day were spent in school and loud 
talking or running in the yard was strictly forbid- 
den. Psalms were sung every morning when 
school was opened, and also at night. Mr. Wes- 
ley helped his wife in educating the children. 

John was of a remarkably studious disposition 
from the beginning and was led in all he did by 
his conscience or his reason, or both. When 
asked to do anything out of the usual way he 
would reply, "I thank you — I will think about 
it." So much did this feature prevail that his 
father said, " Chi Id, you think to carry everything 
by dint of argument, but you will find how little 
is done in the world by close reasoning." To 
Mrs. Wesley he said, "I profess, sweetheart, I 
think our Jack would not attend to the most 
pressing necessities of nature unless he could 
give a reason for it." There was such a spirit of 
devotion in his reasoning son, that the father 
permitted him to come to the Lord's Supper at 
the age of eight years. When he was ten years 
of age his father said that he had not sinned 
away the washing of the Holy Ghost which he 



18 LIFE OF KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 

received at baptism. What this particular wash- 
ing was we are not told. There is a washing of 
regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Ghost, 
which he did at length receive, which turned the 
whole current of his life. No doubt the grace of 
God was at work in that young heart. He had 
the small pox about this time and bore it with a 
manly fortitude. His mother writes "Jack has 
borne his disease bravely like a man, and indeed 
like a Christian, without complaint." 

When John Wesley was 8 years of age his 
mother dedicated herself and her son to God in 
the following lan<mao;e, which shows that she had 
a special regard for him, and perhaps, some idea 
of his future greatness: "May 17, 1711. Son 
John : — What shall I render unto the Lord for all 
his mercies? The little unworthy praise that I 
can offer is so mean and contemptible an offering, 
that I am even ashamed to tender it. But Lord 
accept it for the sake of Christ, and pardon the 
deficiency of this sacrifice, I would offer thee my- 
self and all that thou hast given me, and I would 
resolve — O, give mo grace to do it — that the res- 
idue of my life shall be devoted to thy service, 
and I do intend to be more particularly careful of 
the soul of this child, that thou hast so mercifully 
provided for, than ever I have been ; that I may 
do my endeavor to instill into his mind the prin- 



THE CHARTER HOUSE SCHOOL. 19 

ciple of true religion and virtue. Lord, give me 
grace to do it sincerely and prudently, and bless 
my attempts with good success." Who can tell 
the power of such a prayer and consecration ? 

THE CHARTER HOUSE SCHOOL. 

After five years tuition at his home, at the age 
of eleven years, John Wesley became a student 
of the Charter House School, in London. This 
was a special favor as the annual allowance from 
the endowment for each scholar was forty pounds 
a year, or two hundred dollars. This scholarship 
was secured by the favor of the Duke of Bucking- 
ham. Many hardships and trials awaited him in 
this famous school, but he bore them bravely. 
The older boys were in the habit of taking the 
animal food from the younger, forcing them to 
become vegetarians against their will. But he 
prospered in spite of his tormentors. He ran 
every morning three times, around the large play- 
ground, as his father had directed. His trials and 
triumphs for five years in this school gave him an 
energy of character and an unconquerable patience, 
which helped to give him a mastery of himself in 
time to come, and to prepare him for his great 
life work. He gained a commanding position 
among the students, by a vigorous assiduity in 
his studies. 



20 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

He was often in a discussion with the younger 
scholars. Rev. A. Tooke, the master, noticing 
this from time to time, invited him into his private 
study and inquired : 

' 'How is it that you are so often found among 
the boys of small size, and of inferior talents, and 
seek not the company of your equals." To which 
he replied in his characteristic way ; ' 'Better to rule 
in hell, than to serve in Heaven." Some have 
doubted the truthfulness of this. 

Surely our hero had an ambition which is com- 
mon to men, who make their mark in the church, 
or in the world. Dr. Johnson says: "Provi- 
dence seldom sends any into the world with an 
inclination to attempt great things, who have not 
abilities likewise to perform them." Addison 
says: "Men of the greatest abilities are most 
fired with ambition ; and on the contrary, mean 
and narrow minds are the least actuated by it." 

John Wesley manifests much of the weakness 
of human nature, and writes of himself while at 
school as follows: "Outward restraints being 
removed. I was much more nesrli^ent than before, 
even of outward duties, and almost continually 
guilty of outward sin, which I knew to be such. 
Though they were not scandalous in the eyes of 
the world ; however, I still read the Scriptures, 
and said my prayers morning and evening. And 



NOISES IN THE EPWORTII PARSONAGE. 21 

what I now hoped to be saved by, Avas : 1 Not 
being as bad as other people. 2 Having still a 
kindness for religion. And 3 Reading the Bible, 
going to church, and saying my prayers." A 
very slender foundation for a hope of heaven. 

Noises in the Up worth parsonage. — While John 
was at school strange noises were heard at the 
parsonage at Epworth. Sometimes there were 
dismal groans as of one dying. Then loud rum- 
blings, footsteps of some one day and night, most 
frequent knockings about the beds at night. Mrs. 
Wesley was satisfied there was something super- 
natural in the noises. Mr. Wesley called it a 
deaf and dumb devil, and forbid him disturbing 
his children. The door was violently pushed 
against Emily when there was no 'one on the other 
side. These noises were so distinctly and repeat- 
edly heard, that they served to deepen the con- 
viction of a spiritual and an invisible world, and 
"exercised an important influence on the mind of 
John Wesley through his future life." 

After leaving the Charter house school, he went 
to the Westminister school. His brother Samuel 
wrote to his father, "My brother Jack, I can faith- 
fully assure you, gives you no manner of discour- 
agement from believing your third son a scholar. 
Jack is a brave boy, learning Hebrew as fast as 
he can." Soon after this, in 1720, he became a 



22 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

scholar in Christ's Church college, Oxford. This 
was one of the finest colleges to be found at that 
ancient seat of learning. He was now seventeen 
years of age, just blooming into early manhood. 

His religious life was at a low ebb, still he 
writes, "I said my prayers both in public, and in 
private, and read, with the Scriptures, several 
other books of religion, especially comments on 
the New Testament ; yet I had not all this while, 
so much as a notion of inward holiness ; nay, I 
went on habitually, and for the most part, very 
contentedly, in some or other known sin ; though 
with some intermissions, and short struggles, 
especially before and after the holy communion, 
which I was obliged to review twice a year." 

His health was not good, and he wrote to his 
mother that he was frequently troubled with 
bleeding of the nose, sometimes he was almost 
choked. Sometimes he could not stop the hem- 
orrhage till he stripped himself and jumped into 
the river. His scholarship yielded him £40 a 
year, hardly enough to meet his necessities. His 
parents could help him but little, so that he had a 
good opportunity to learn the right use of money. 
His tutors were both considerate and generous. 
He wrote to his father as follows: Nov. 1, 
1724, at the age of twenty-one, from Oxford : 
"I would be exceeding glad to keep up a corres- 



joiin's letter to his father. 23 

pondence with my sister Emily, if she were will- 
ing'. I have written once or twice, to my sister 
Sukey too, but have not had an answer, either from 
her, or from my sister Kitty. I should be glad to 
hear how things go on at Wroote (where his father 
now lived), which I now remember with more 
pleasure than Ep worth. So true is it, at least in 
me, that the persons not the place make home so 
pleasant." Mr. Babcock, in the Westminister 
Magazine writes of John Wesley as he was in 
Oxford, in 1724. "He appeared like a very sen- 
sible and acute collegian, a young fellow of the 
finest classical taste, and most liberal to manly 
sentiments.*' 

Nov. 24, 1724, his mother wrote to John "I 
wish you would save all the money you can con- 
veniently spare, not to spend on a visit, but for a 
wiser and better purpose, — to pay debts, and 
make yourself easy, — lam not without hope of 
seeing you next summer, if it please God to pro- 
long my mortal life. If you then be willing, and 
have time allowed you to accompany me to Wroote 
I will leave you charges as God shall enable me. 
I hope at your leisure you will oblige me with 
some of your verses, on any, but rather on religious 
subjects. Dear Jack, I beseech Almighty God to 
bless you.'* 



24 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

About this time John Wesley was greatly 
blessed in reading "The Christian Pattern," by 
Thomas a Kempis which was one of the first books 
that Wesley afterwards published. The works of 
Jeremy Taylor, and of William Law, also had a 
good influence upon him ; yea, they were his chief 
religious instructors for a time, and helped to 
mould his character. Dr. Rigg says, "He became 
eventually an ascetic somewhat like Kempis, with 
a mystical bias (due partly to Law) , and also an 
overpowering ritualistic tendency, but at all times 
free from sombreness of coloring or moroseness of 
temperament. He revolted from the morbid 
teaching of Jeremy Taylor." 

He wrote to his mother in 1725, "If we dwell 
in Christ, and Christ in us (which we will not do 
unless we are regenerate), certainly we must be 
sensible of it. If we can never have any certainty 
of being in a state of salvation, good reason it is 
that every moment should be spent not in joy, but 
in fear and trembling, and then undoubtedly we 
are in this life, of all men most miserable. God 
deliver us from such a miserable expectation as 
this." 

This shows that he believed in a conscious state 
of present salvation from guilt and fear, that may 
be obtained by faith in Christ. This, we shall 
find, was one of the leading doctrines of Method- 



HIS JOURNALS. 25 

ism that was thus early planted in his mind, Yet 
it was not till thirteen years afterwards that he 
obtained the assurance of salvation by a living 
faith in Christ. 

It was about this time that he began to write 
in his journal a more exact account of his religious 
experience, and of how he spent every hour. 
Thus he continued to do to the end of his event- 
ful life. And his journals are among the most in- 
teresting works in the English language. "A work 
not only containing the best history of the great 
Reformer, and of the rise, and growth of Method- 
ism, but sparkling with the most racy remarks 
respecting men, books, places, science and almost 
everything with which the writer came in con- 
tact." 

From those journals we may learn the work of 
grace that was going on in his heart at this time, 
and from time to time. 

He writes concerning Kempis "Pattern." When 
I met with this book in 1726, the nature and extent 
of inward religion, the religion of the heart, now 
appeared to me in a stronger light than ever it had 
done before. I saw that giving even all my life 
to God, (supposing it was possible to do this and 
go no further) , would profit me nothing, unless I 
gave my heart, yea, all my heart to him. I 
saw that simplicity of intention, and purity of 



26 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

affection, and design in all we speak, and do, and 
one desire ruling all our tempers, are indeed the 
wings of the soul, without which we can never 
ascend to God. I sought after this from that 
hour." This was quite clear and decided, and 
i showed the workings of the Holy Spirit, on his 
heart. 

In reference to Taylor's "Holy Living and 
Dying" he writes. "In reading several parts of 
this book I was exceedingly affected ; that part 
in particular that related to purity of intention ; 
instantly I resolved to dedicate all my life to God, 
all my thoughts, and words, and actions, — being 
thoroughly convinced there was no medium; but 
that every part of my life — not some only — must 
either be a sacrifice to God, or myself, that is, to 
the devil." All this time his aim was to serve 
God, and his fellow-men. "No man could be 
more sincere, earnest, devout, diligent, and self- 
denying ; and no doubt God smiled on this earnest 
and humble endeavor to please Jiim." 

When Wesley contemplated being ordained a 
deacon in the Episcopal church, he had quite a 
conflict in his mind on the subject of predestination, 
and of his acceptance with God. To assist him in 
his preparation, his mother wrote him a kindly 
letter, but it is evident, that she was in a state of 
uncertainty herself, as to the possibility of our 



his mother's advice. 27 

knowledge of salvation, for she speaks about hav- 
ing only "a reasonable persuasion of the forgive- 
ness of our sins," and says that "such a certainty 
of pardon, as cannot possibly admit of the least 
doubt or scruple, we can never have till we come 
to Heaven." 

The following advice is more hopeful, and more 
evangelical, which she wrote to John about 
this time, "If you would be free from fears and 
doubts concerning your future happiness, every 
morning and evening commit your soul to Jesus 
Christ in a full faith in His power, and he will save 
you. If you do this seriously and constantly, He 
will take you under His conduct. He will guide 
you by His Holy Spirit into the way of truth, and 
give you strength to walk in it." 

It was in this same year, 1725, that Wesley and 
his mother settled between themselves the 
question of predestination in the sense in which 
Wesley always taught it in after life. Still he 
had but little idea of the saving faith that is of 
the heart and not of the head, and which is 
indeed "of the operation of the Holy Ghost," 
which "is a moral and a spiritual affection, and 
act, or habit of acting, of the highest significance 
and potency, rooting the soul in Christ and God." 

Wesley's testimony: "I distinctly remember 
that even in my childhood, even when I was at 



28 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

school, I have often said "They say the life of a 
school boy is the happiest in the world," but I am 
sure I am not happy, for I am not content and so 
cannot be happy. When I had lived a few years 
longer, being in the vigor of youth, a stranger to 
pain and sickness and particularly to lowness of 
spirits (which I do not remember to have felt one 
quarter of an hour ever since I was born) having 
plenty of all things, in the midst of sensible and 
amiable friends who loved me and I loved them, 
and being in the way of life which of all others 
suited my inclinations; still I was not happy. 
I wondered why I was not, and could not imagine 
what the reason was. Upon the coolest reflection 
there was not one week which I would not have 
thought it worth while to have lived over again, 
taking it with every inward and outward sensa- 
tion, without any variation at all. The reason 
certainly was that I did not know God, the source 
of present as well as eternal happiness." 



ORDINATION AND LABORS. 29 



CHAPTER II. 



HIS ORDINATION AND LABORS AT OXFORD. 

We dow approach an important period in the 
life of Wesley. He had long had it upon his 
heart to become a minister, and after due consid- 
eration, and careful preparation, he was ordained 
a deacon, Sept. 19, 1725, by Bishop Potter. He 
preached his first sermon in South Leigh, near 
Witney. In March, 1726, he was elected Fellow 
of Lincoln College, Oxford. This was a great 
event in his life, as it gave bim a wider sphere of 
usefulness, and afforded him a good temporal sup- 
port; with financial ability to help his parents. 

He writes : "I am shortly to take my Masters' 
degree. I shall therefore be less interrupted by 
business not of my own choosing. I have drawn 
up for myself a scheme of studies from which I 
do not intend, for some years at least, to vary." 

Before receiving the above Degree, he delivered 
three lectures, one on natural philosophy, one on 
moral philosophy, and another on religion. It 
is a pity they were not preserved. He was made 
Master of Arts, Feb. 14, 1727. Tyerman says, 
"In disputation for this, he acquired considerable 



30 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

reputation." He had made himself master of 
oriental languages, oratory and poetry, meta- 
physics, logic and ethics, as well as divinity. 
Eight months after his election as a Fellow in 
Lincoln College, he was appointed Greek lecturer 
in his college, and Moderator of the classes. 
This gave him great power and facility, and very 
much helped to prepare him for his future work 
of life. 

Sept. 22, 1728, he was ordained a priest by the 
same Dr. Potter who ordained him deacon. A few 
days after this he returned to Wroote, to assist his 
father in preaching, and fulfilling ministerial 
duties, till Nov. 22, 1729. Ha writes, about this 
time, " I preached much, but saw but little fruit 
of my labors. Indeed, it could not be that I 
should, for I neither laid the foundation of repen- 
tance, nor of believing the gospel ; taking it for 
granted that all to whom I preached were believers, 
and that many of them needed no repentance." 
Alas ! that so many ministers fall into the same 
snare of the devil, while their people slide quietly 
down to hell, for want of some John the Baptist 
to cry out ' ' Repent ye ! for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand ! " 

About this time Wesley writes in his journal : 
"I set apart an hour or two a day for religious 
retirement. I watched against all sin, whether in 



A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 31 

word or deed. I began to aim at, and to pray for, 
inward holiness. So that now, doing so much, 
and living so good a life, I doubted not but I was a 
good Christian." 

See how plainly salvation by works comes out ! 
What an utter want of self-renunciation, and of 
simple faith in Christ alone for salvation. At 
another time he writes, "The light flows in so 
mightily upon my soul that everything appears in 
a new light. I cried to God for help, and resolved 
not to prolong the time of obeying him ; and by 
my continued endeavor to keep his whole law, 
inward and outward, to the utmost of my power, 
I was persuaded that it should be acceptable to 
Him, and that I was even then in a state of sal- 
vation." But all those dead works brought no 
true rest and comfort to his weary soul. He was, 
indeed, a faithful servant of the Lord, but he was 
not an adopted son. Hear his own testimony as 
he writes, years afterward: "I believe that 
neither our holiness nor good works are any part 
of the cause of our justification, but the death and 
righteousness of Christ are the whole and sole 
cause of it. I believe that no good works can be 
previous to justification." 

He was very careful in the selection of his 
company. He writes: "I resolved to have no 
company by chance, but by choice; and to choose 



32 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

such only as would help me on my way to heaven. 
I prefer such a retirement as would exclude me 
from all the world, for a time, that I might fill the 
station I am now in. Not that this is by any 
means unpleasant to me, to be in a place where I 
might confirm or implant in my mind what habits 
I could without interruption, before the flexibility 
of youth is over. I am full of business, but have 
found a time to write, without taking any time 
from that. It is by rising an hour sooner in the 
morning, and going into company an hour later 
at night." 

His plan of studies was as follows : Monday 
and Tuesday were devoted to Greek and Roman 
classics, historians and poets. Wednesday to 
logic and ethics. Thursday to Hebrew and Ara- 
bic. Friday to metaphysics and natural philosophy. 
Saturdays to oratory and poetry, chiefly compos- 
ing. Sundays to divinity. In the intermediate 
hours between these fixed studies, he perfected 
himself in the French language. 

Sometimes he amused himself with experiments 
with optics, and in mathematics studied Euclid, 
Keil, and Sir Isaac Newton. " First he read an 
author regularly through, and then transcribed 
into a commonplace book, such passages as he 
thought important or beautiful. In this way he 
greatly ..increased his stock of knowledge, and 
inured himself to hard work." 



- HI 




HE LABORS FOR OTHERS. 33 

His father was now sixty-five years of age, and 
was already palsied ; therefore a part of the time 
Wesley was assisting his father in both parts of 
his parish, at Ep worth and at Wroote, and here 
he remained, as we have said, till Nov. 22, 1729. 

After having spent two years with his father, 
as curate, and preaching much by invitation of the 
rector of his college, he returned to Oxford, and 
took pupils, and remained there for the six years 
following. 

It was during this stay at Oxford that he united 
with his brother Charles, and Mr. Morgan, and 
Mr. Kirkman, for mutual and personal improve- 
ment and edification. "They agreed to spend 
three or four evenings in the week together, in 
reading the Greek Testament, with the Greek and 
Latin classics. On Sunday evenings they read 
divinity." 

Soon they began to labor directly for the good 
of others. In the summer of 1730, a man was 
lodged in the goal that was condemned to die for 
killing his wife. So they began to labor for this 
man's salvation, and after a while, to visit the 
prisoners twice a week. 

Soon they extended their labors to the sick and 
and poor of the town. This practice soon 
attracted attention, and the people began to talk 
about them. But they steadily pursued their way, 



34 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

and became so zealous in this, and in other labors 
of love, and were so Methodical about it, that at 
length they received the title of ' 'Methodists ," which 
title has followed them and their successors ever 
since. 

Their numbers steadily increased. The pupils 
of both John and Charles Wesley desired to join 
them; also Benjamin Ingham of Queen's College, 
and T. Broughton of Exeter ; also James Hervey, 
author of the " Meditations." And, at length, 
George Whitefield of Pembroke. This company 
was called " The Holy Club" 

We may judge of the state of John Wesley's 
mind at this time by the following letter to his 
Mother : ' 4 You say you have renounced the 
world. And what have I been doing all this 
time ? What have I done ever since I was born ? 
Why, I have been plunging myself into it more 
and more. It is enough. Awake thou that sleep- 
eth. Is there not one Lord, one spirit, one hope 
of our calling ; one way of attaining that hope ? 
Then I am to renounce the world as well as you. 
That is the very thing that I want to do — to draw 
off my affections from this world and fix them 
on a better. But how ? What is the surest and 
shortest w,ay ? Is it not to be humble? Surely 
this is a large step in the way. But the question 
recurs — how I am to do this? To own the 
necessity is not to be humble. 



HIS LABORS DESTROY HIS HEALTH. 35 

When I observe how fast time flies away, and 
how slow improvement comes, I think one can- 
not be too much afraid of dying before one has 
learned to live. I mean even in the course of nature. 
For were I sure the ' silver cord ' should be 
violently loosed — till it was quite worn away by 
its own motion, yet what time would this give me 
for such a work — a moment to transact the busi- 
ness of eternity ! So that were I sure, how little 
would it alter the case ! How justly still might 
I cry out : 

fc Downward I hasten to my destined place, 
There none obtain Thy aid, none sing Thy praise; 
Soon shall 1 lie in Death's deep ocean drowned. 
Is mercy there? Is sweet forgiveness found? 
O, save me yet, while on the brink I stand ; 
Eebuke those storms, and set me safe on land! 
O, make my longings and Thy mercy sure. 
Thou art the God of power.' " 

This shows how far he was yet from the joyful 
assurance of an adopted child of God. 

He had the more reason to think of eternity, for 
his unceasing labors tended to destroy his health, 
and he began to expectorate so much blood that 
his body was quite weak, and sometimes his life 
was despaired of. Some of the so-called " holy 
club" left it, but the others stood firmly to their 
purpose and the good work: went on. 



36 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

As his father's health was constantly failing, he 
desired John to leave Oxford and return home 
and assist him again in the work of his parish at 
Ep worth and at Wroote, especially as John was 
ordained to the work of the ministry, and the work 
that he was doing at Oxford was not strictly 
niinisteral. John referred the matter to the Bishop, 
who replied, " It doth not seem to me, that at 
your ordination you engaged yourself to under- 
take the care of any parish, providing you can, 
as a clergyman, better serve God and His Church in 
your present or some other station." John at 
once replied, " That I can as a clergyman, better 
iserve God and His Church in my present status, 
I have all reasonable evidence." So he continued 
his studies and labors at that favorite seat of learn- 
ing. He began to observe Wednesdays and Fri- 
days as days of fasting and prayer, tasting no food 
till 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and denied himself 
of all superfluities and even of some of the necessi- 
ties of life, that he may have money to give away. 
Having £30 a year he lived on £28, and gave 
away £2. The next year he received £60 ; he 
still lived on £28, and gave away £32. The 
following year out of £90, he gave away £62, and 
the next year £92 out of £120. He commenced to 
rise at 4 o'clock in the morning, and continued the 
practice for sixty years. He studied the Bible 



HE WAS ALWAYS CHEERFUL. 37 

as the only standard of truth and the only model of 
pure religion. Gambold says of Wesley at this 
time: "He was always cheerful and never 
arrogant. By strict watchfulness, beating down 
his impetuosity until it became a childlike sim- 
plicity. His piety was nourished by continual 
communion with God, for he thought prayer to 
be his greatest duty. I have often seen him come 
out of his closet of devotion with a serenity of 
countenance that iv as next to shining" 

Who can tell what blessed fellowship he had 
with God in those hallowed seasons ? He writes 
of himself: " In this refined way of trusting to 
my own righteousness, I dragged on heavily, find- 
ing no comfort to help therein, till the time of my 
leaving England." Rev. R. Green says: "He 
was in his own eyes a sinner, in the eyes of 
others a saint. He was now an ascetic of the 
severest kind, having schooled his body into un- 
hesitating submission to the spirit." 

In 1730 he accepted a curacy near Oxford, 
which enabled him to keep a horse and extended 
his sphere of usefulness. His father after visiting 
his sons at Oxford, wrote : " I am well paid both 
for the expense and labor by the shining piety 
of my two sons." John and Charles walked to 
Epworth and back about this time, reading Latin 
as they passed along. In 1733 Wesley rode on 



38 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

horseback to Ep worth to see his father, whose 
health was failing. In this journey he began the 
habit of reading on horseback, which he continued 
for forty years, till advanced years compelled him 
to ride in a carriage. In this year he issued one 
of his first publications, "Forms of Prayer," and 
preached constantly on the Lord's day. Thus by 
arduous study and constant prayer and in visiting 
the sick and poor, and preaching every Sabbath, 
he was preparing himself for the work of his most 
eventful life. He was disciplining himself in soul 
and body for future service for God and man. 
This variety of earnest labor continued till the 
year 1735, when his father died, and the Epworth 
home was broken up and the family dispersed. 
Wesley left Oxford and came to London to await 
the openings of divine providence. 

He was better prepared for his life's work from 
the fact that while at Oxford, as we have seen, he 
was appointed Moderator and presided at all the 
disputations of the students, and thus he became 
expert in all manner of reasoning and ' ' in dis- 
cerning and pointing out the well-covered and 
plausible fallacies." He writes, " I have since found 
abundant reasons to praise God for giving me this 
honest art. By this, when men have hedged me 
in by what they called demonstrations, I have been 
many times able to dash them to pieces ; in spite 



LIKE SAUL OF TARSUS. 39 

of all its covers, to touch the very point where the 
fallacy lay and it flew open in a moment. " Pre- 
siding six times a week o\ev the disputes of his 
students prepared him to preside so successfully 
over his ministers in Annual Conferences for so 
many years. 

While at Oxford he preached at St. Mary's, 
before the university, on "The circumcision of the 
heart," from Romans 2:29. In this sermon he 
explains very clearly and with energy of language 
his views of Salvation to be attained in this life, 
from which he never varied to the day of his death. 
Still he greatly lacked light on how to attain this 
Salvation, though he sought it with all his heart. 
He was an honest inquirer after gospel light. 
Henry Moore says, "The truth is, he was like 
Saul of Tarsus, 'alive without the law? he was not 
yet 'slain by the commandment,' and therefore did 
not come to God in his true character. He who 
justijieth only the ungodly could not, therefore, 
justify him ; the faith which he had at that time 
could not be imputed to him for righteousness and 
hence he had not peace and joy in believing." 

This is undoubtedly the true state of Wesley's 
mind and heart at this time, and it will serve to 
show the state of tens of thousands in the Church 
of Christ and of some in the ministry of the Church 
of the present day, who are constantly going about 



40 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

to establish their own righteousness and have not 
submitted themselves to the righteousness of God 
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. 

In this state of mind no wonder the fear of death 
was not taken away, for when he was greatly 
reduced in body by frequent returns of spitting 
blood and when in the night he was so suddenly and 
violently attacked that he thought he should die, 
he cried out, "O God ! prepare me for thy coming 
and come when thou wilt." 

Let no one think me severe in this view of Wes- 
ley's spiritual condition, for in a letter to Wm, 
Law, May 14, 1738, Wesley writes, " Verily you 
know nothing of me, you discern not my spirit at 
all. I know that I have not faith, unless the faith 
of a devil, the faith of Judas, that speculative, 
national, airy shadow, that lives in the head, not 
in the heart. But what is this to faith in the heart ? 
But what is this to living, justifying faith in the 
blood of Jesus ? The faith that cleanseth from sin. 
That gives us free access to the Father. To rejoice 
in hope of the glory of God; to have the love of 
God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, 
which dwelleth in us, and the Spirit itself bearing 
witness with our spirits that we are the children of 
God." 

He had quite clear views of religious things, for 
he writes to his father, "By holiness I mean 



SUBJECT TO BUTT AND 8 CORN". 41 

not fastings or bodily austerity, or any other means 
of improvement ; but the inward temper, toward 
which all things are subservient, a renewal of the 
soul in the image of God. I mean a complex 
habit of lowliness, meekness, purity, faith, hope, 
and the love of God and man." All this embraces 
the experience of regeneration whether he was now 
regenerated or not. 

In 1735, he published a sermon in which he says, 
" Perfect holiness is not found on earth, but death 
will destroy at once the whole body of sin and 
therewith its companion, pain." How contrary 
this to his doctrine in his " Plain account of Chris- 
tian Perfection." 

In the same sermon he was very severe on the 
persecutors of "the Methodists." For six years 
he and his associates of "The Holy Club" had 
been subject to butt and scorn, and now as he was 
about to leave Oxford, he finds it convenient to 
rebuke his enemies. 

He published also a book written by his father, 
entitled "Advice to Young Clergymen." 

Having spent, with his brother Charles, six 
years at this ancient seat of learning, they finish 
their labors and go out into the world. "Two 
young men, without a name, wdthout friends, with- 
out either home or fortune, set out from college 
with principles totally different from those of the 



42 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

common people, to oppose all the world, learned 
and unlearned, and to combat popular prejudices of 
every kind. Their first principle directly attacked 
all the wickedness ; their second all the bigotry in 
the world. Thus they attempted a reformation, 
not of opinions, features, trifles not worth naming, 
but of men's tempers and lives ; of vice of every 
kind ; of everything contrary to justice, mercy, or 
truth. And for this it was that they carried their 
lives in their hands, and that both the great and 
the small looked upon them as mad dogs and 
treated them as such." 

But they were chosen vessels of the Lord, or- 
dained to do his pleasure and bless their own and 
all succeeding generations. 



MISSION TO AMERICA. 43 



CHAPTER III. 



WESLEY S MISSION TO AMERICA. 

John Wesley has now left his retirement at 
Oxford and gone out into the world and we must 
not be surprised if we find that the world treats 
him roughly, as it did the Son of God. And as 
Jesus, when he began his ministry, was led into 
the wilderness and tempted of the devil, forty 
days and forty nights, we must not think it strange 
if Mr. Wesley has some of the same experience. 

Having left Oxford, and having no particular 
work before him, he was waiting for the openings 
of providence. Just then Dr. John Burton, of 
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, met Wesley in 
London and introduced him to Mr. Oglethorpe, 
who urged Mr. Wesley to become a missionary 
to the English colony in Georgia, America. He 
took counsel of his brother Samuel, and of 
William Law and others. Then he went to Ep- 
worth and consulted his widowed mother, who 
said "Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice if they 
were all so employed." 

Soon after Wesley decided to leave all and go 
to the wilds of America and labor to convert the 



44 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Indians, with the fond but delusive hope, that if 
he went and denied himself to convert the Indians, 
of course, God would convert him. Salvation by 
works again, but salvation never came in that way. 

Wesley writes, "My chief motive is the hope 
of saving my own soul. I hope to learn the true 
sense of the gospel of Christ by preaching it to 
the heathen. They have no party, no interest to 
serve, and are therefore fit to receive the gospel 
in its simplicity. They are as little children, 
humble, willing to learn and eager to do the will 
of God. I have been a grievious sinner from my 
youth up, and yet am laden with foolish and hurt- 
ful desires ; but I am assured, if I be once con- 
verted myself, God will then employ me both to 
strengthen my brethren and to preach his name 
to the Gentiles. I cannot attain the same degree 
of holiness here as I can there." 

Alas ! many of his fond expectations were cut 
off, as we shall see. Just before he sailed on the 
"Simnionds" off Gravesend, he wrote to his 
brother Samuel, "Elegance of style is not to be 
set against purity of heart ; therefore, whatever 
has any tendency to impair that purity is not to 
be tolerated, much less recommended for the sake 
of that elegance. But of this sort are most of 
the classics read in large schools, many of them 
tending to inflame the lusts of the flesh, and 



HE BEGINS TO LEARN GERMAN. 45 

move the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life. 
I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, 
who would have us holy as he is holy, that you 
banish all such poison from your school." 

He went on board Oct. 14, 1735. He began 
to learn the German language, so that he could 
talk with the passengers, and in self denial, that 
he might promote his own piety. He left off the 
use of flesh and wine, and confined himself to a 
vegetable diet. On the same vessel were twenty- 
six Moravians, from Herrnhut, who were going 
out to join their brethren in America. From 
various delays, they did not fairly set sail till 
Dec. 10th. They waited for a man-of-war which 
was to be their convoy. They had a fine company 
on board including Charles Wesley, Benjamin 
Ingham, James E. Oglethorpe, Charles Delmotte 
and David Xitschman , a German. From four to five 
in the morning they were employed in private 
prayer. From five to seven they read the Bible 
together, carefully comparing w r hat they read. 
At seven they had breakfast ; at eight, public 
piayers ; from nine to twelve for various studies ; 
so they filled up the day 

u Betwixt the mount and multitude 
Doing and receiving good." 

Ingham wrote of the Moravians on board, 

<k They are a good, devout, peaceable and heavenly 



46 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

minded people, and almost the only time you 
know they are in the ship is when they are 
harmoniously singing the praises of their Creator. 
Their example is very edifying ; they are more like 
the primitive Christians than any church now 
existing. They all submit themselves to their 
pastor, in everything. 

Wesley, hearing a loud noise in Mr. Ogle- 
thorpe's state-room, went to enquire the cause. 
"Excuse me, Mr. Wesley," said Mr. Oglethorpe, 
6 'I have met with a provocation too great to bear. 
This Italian servant has drunk nearly the whole 
of my Cyprus wine. Ho shall be tied hand and 
foot, and carried to the man-of-war ; for I never 
forgive." "Then," said Wesley, with great calm- 
ness, "Then I hope, sir, you never sin." He was 
confounded, his vengeance was gone, he put his 
hand into his pocket, pulled out a bunch of keys, 
and threw them at his servant, saying, "There, 
William ! take my keys, and behave better in the 
future." 

They had a rough passage to America. Some 
times they were in great danger. The sea broke 
over the ship and shook it from stem to stern, 
and brought down the main-yard upon the 
decks and dashed through the cabin windows. 
One wave broke over Wesley's head and drenched 
him to the skin. Sometimes the sea sparkled 



THEY ANCHOR IN SAVANNAH RIVER. 47 

and smoked as if on fire, and the air blazed with 
lightning. The Moravians were en^a^ed in 
divine service and kept quite calm, but the 
English began to scream. Wesley was afraid, 
for he was neither fit to die nor willing to die. 
He was greatly astonished at the calmness of the 
Germans, for even their women and children 
were kept in perfect peace. He could not under- 
stand this, for he had not the perfect love that 
casteth out fear. 

February 5, 1736, they anchored in the Savan- 
nah river, and were welcomed by the firing of 
cannon, and the presenting of arms by the free- 
holders of this new Commonwealth. Orders 
were immediately given by Oglethorpe to build 
a church, who also provided the materials. 
Savannah had only forty houses ; the principal 
buildings were a court house, log-built prison, 
storehouse, a grist mill, and a residence for the 
trustee's steward. There was an Indian town not 
far off. The climate was exceedingly salubrious, 
good land and excellent water. Each male 
emigrant was allowed a musket, bayonet, hatchet, 
hammer, shovel and hoe, and cluiing the first year 
for support, each one had 312 lbs. of beef or 
pork, 104 of rice, 104 of Indian corn or peas, 
104 of meal, etc. Proportionate allowances were 
made for women and children. 



48 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

The Indians had no literature, no religion, and 
no civil government. Many of them were glut- 
tons, drunkards, thieves, and liars, and many of 
them were murderers. 

Wesley soon found himself face to face with A. 
G. Spangenberg, the Moravian Elder, of whom 
he asked advice how to proceed in this new world. 
The former replied, "My brother, I must first ask 
you one or two questions. Have you the witness 
within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear 
witness that you are a child of God ? " This was 
quite a surprise ; he could not answer. " Do you 
know Jesus Christ?" asked Spangenberg. "I 
know he is the Saviour of the world." "But 
does he save you ? " "I hope he has died to save 
me." "Do you know yourself?" Wesley re« 
plied, "I do." ' 

It was worth a rough passage to America to 
come into contact with this man of God. It was, 
no doubt, in the providence of God that the future 
founder of Methodism should be separated three 
thousand miles from his home, and subjected to a 
series of severe trials, that he might know his own 
weakness, and then, at the same time, that he 
should learn the simple way of salvation by faith, 
and that he might teach it to millions of others in 
all time to come. Surely 

" God moves in a mysterious way." 



HE LIVES WITH THE MORAVIANS. 49 

In a few days the Indian chiefs were introduced 
to Wesley and his company. The Indians brought 
them a jar of milk, hoping that they would feed — 
that is, instruct — their children, and also a pot of 
honey, in hope that they would be sweet to them. 

Having no home, Wesley lived with the Mora- 
vians for a time. This was a great blessing, for it 
taught him the true spirit of the gospel. He says : 
"The Moravians were always employed, always 
cheerful themselves and in good humor with one 
another. They adorned the gospel in all things." 

In March, Wesley took possession of the rectory 
and preached his first sermom from 1 Cor. 13 : 3, 
in which he introduced two death-bed scenes — 
that of his father, and one in Savannah — "a spec- 
tacle worthy to be seen of God and angels and 
men. He held three services on the Sabbath and 
administered the sacrament weekly." 

Charles Wesley went with Oglethorpe to lay 
out the town of Frederica, and became his secre- 
tary. John Wesley wrote : "We are likely to 
stay here some months. It is pleasant beyond im- 
agination and exceedingly healthy." The Indians 
were determined not to hear the white men's gos- 
pel, and as the English in Savannah were without 
a pastor, Wesley decided to labor among them. 
He was surprised to find himself surrounded by 
nothing but "respect and commendation." In 



50 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

three weeks he established morning and evening: 
public prayers, a weekly communion, and ser- 
vices on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights. 
Charles was trying to reconcile scolding women, 
by which he secured the hatred of them all, and 
baptizing children by triune, or three-fold, immer- 
sion. But he was soon treated with coldness and 
charged with mutiny. 

There was too much praying and too many ser- 
vices for Oglethorpe. Complaints began to multi- 
ply. Wesley's soul was soon tested as by fire. 
One of his congregation said : "I like nothing 
you do ; all your sermons are satires upon some 
particular persons. We never heard of such a 
religion before, we know not what to make of it. 
All the quarrels since your arrival have been on 
your account. There is neither man or woman in 
this town that minds a word you say." This was 
in Frederica, where Wesley preached for four 
weeks. 

Charles Wesley returned to England after 
spending five months in Georgia. He was com- 
pletely discouraged. 

Wesley went again to Frederica, which was a 
settlement on the west side of the island of St. 
Simon's, and spent twelve weeks in hard labor to 
do the people good. But the prospects for good 
grew less and less. So he returned to Savannah, 
where he continued to labor till October 31, 1737, 



HE WALKS TO COWPER. 51 

In 1736, Wesley and Dclmotte started to walk 
to Cowpcr, missed their way, walked through a 
cypress swamp with the water breast high, slept 
on the ground in their wet clothes, which during 
the night were frozen and in the morning were as 
white as snow ; they fell short of provisions and 
were glad to use bear's meat, and found it whole- 
some. Again he found the people cold and heart- 
less. He catechised the children every Saturday 
and Sunday ; held three meetings a day on Sun- 
day. He labored without wages other than food 
and raiment — with this he was content if he could 
have seen more success in his labors. 

Oglethorpe came into mistrust in England, but 
Wesley said all he could in his favor. Some 
thought Wesley was sour and morose, others de 
clared that he was cheerful and pleasant. Thus 
he had evil report and good report. A wicked 
woman whom he had offended, decoyed him into 
her house, threw him down, and cut off those 
lovely curls that he had tried to keep so well, sc? 
that he looked very singular with long hair on one 
side and short hair on the other. He greatly de- 
sired to do the people good, and no doubt he did 
do much good. But he lacked spiritual power be- 
cause he was not converted. 

About this time Wesley was introduced to Miss 
llopkcy who was said to be a lady of good sense, 



52 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

elegant in person and manners. She was intro- 
duced as an enquirer after salvation. She tried 
to gain influence over him by constantly seeking 
his company. After a time Wesley consulted the 
Moravian bishop as to the propriety of marriage, 
who replied, "Marriage is not unlawful, but 
whether it is expedient for you, and whether this 
lady is a proper wife for you, ought to be maturely 
weighed." After submitting the matter to the 
Moravian elders and promising to abide their de- 
cision, they advised him to proceed no further in 
the matter. He replied, "The will of the Lord be 
done." She was afterwards married to Mr. Wil- 
liamson. If he had been married and settled at 
Savannah, it might have turned the whole current 
of his wonderful life. No doubt he was provi- 
dentially led and delivered. 

At length a list of grievances were brought up 
against Wesley, mainly in relation to his peculiar 
manner of church work and ordinances which 
were supposed to differ from the regular Episco- 
pal service. These he refused to answer, as they 
did not belong to the civil court, but to the ecclesi- 
astical. The fact was, his enemies were determined 
to drive him out of the colony, and took these 
measures to accomplish it. 

After a vast variety of trials, that I have not 
time nor space to mention, he decided, upon the 



HE SLEEPS ON THE GROUND IN WINTER. 53 

recommendation of bis friends, that it was his 
duty to return to England. His enemies were 
bent on his destruction — but he escaped, as a bird 
out of the snare of the fowler. He and his com- 
panions went by boat twenty miles to Purrysburg, 
then on foot to Port Royal. Tramping through 
trackless forests they wandered for three hours 
around a dismal swamp, forced their way through 
a difficult thicket ; they tramped from an hour 
before sunrise till after sunset without food, except 
a gingerbread cake which Wesley happened to have 
in his pocket. After digging about three feet they 
found water. They thanked God and took cour- 
age, lay down on the ground and slept that winter 
night in December. In three more days they 
reached Port Royal. Then they sailed for Charles- 
ton in a small craft impelled by oars. Cold and 
hungry they arrived in safety after four weary 
days in an open boat and in cold weather. 

December 22, 1737, Wesley and Delmotte set 
sail for England. Wesley could not be idle, so 
he began to instruct -two negro lads and the cabin 
boy in the principles of the Christian religion. On 
Sunday he had morning and evening prayers. 
They were struck by a fearful storm in the middle 
of the Atlantic. This opened the way for Wesley 
to speak to the people on eternal things. He also 
closely examined himself, and wrote, in the ful- 



54 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

ness of his heart, January 8, "By the most in- 
fallible proof, inward feeling, I am convinced, 1, 
Of unbelief; having no such faith in Christ as will 
prevent my heart from being troubled. 2. Of 
pride, throughout my life past ; inasmuch as I 
thought I had what I find I have not. 3. Of gross 
ir recollection ; inasmuch as in a storm I cry to 
God every moment — in a calm, not. 4. Of 
levity and laxuriancy of spirit — appearing by my 
speaking words not tending to edify ; but most, 
by my manner of speaking of my enemies. — Lord, 
save, or I perish ! Save me. 1. By such a faith 
as implies peace in life and death. 2. By such 
humility as may fill my heart from this hour for- 
ever with a piercing uninterrupted sense that 
hitherto I have done nothing. 3. By such a 
recollection as will enable me to cry to Thee every 
moment. 4. By steadiness, seriousness, sobriety 
of spirit, avoiding, as fire, every word that tend- 
eth not to edify, and never speaking of any who 
oppose me or sin against God, without all my own 
sins set in array before my face." 

Not far from Land's End they had another 
storm, which filled his mind with solemn thought, 
when he wrote : " I went to America to convert 
the Indians; -but Oh! who shall convert me? 
Who is he who will deliver me from this evil 
heart of unbelief? I have a fair summer religion ; 



"WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?" 55 

I can talk well, nay, I believe myself while no 
danger is near. But let death look me in the face 
and my spirit is troubled ; nor can I say, < To die 
is gain.' " 

The next day he writes : "For many years I 
have been tossed about by various w^inds of doc- 
trine. I asked long ago, ' What must I do to 
be saved?' The Scripture answered, ' Keep the 
commandments, believe, hope, love : follow after 
these tempers till thou hast fully attained, that is, 
till death ; by all those outward works and means 
which God has appointed ; by walking as Christ 
walked.' " 

Again he wrote: "It is upward of two years 
since I left my native country, in order to teach 
the Georgia Indians Christianity ; but I have 
learned in the meantime — what I least expected — 
that I, who went to America to convert others, 
was never converted myself. 'I am not mad? 
though I thus speak, but 'speak the words of truth 
and soberness; ' if haply some of those who still 
dream may awake and see, that as I am, so are 
they. 

Are they read in philosophy? So am I. In 
ancient or modern tongues? So was I also. Are 
they versed in the science of divinity ? I too have 
studied it many years. Can they talk fluently on 
spiritual things? The very same I could do. Are 



56 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

they plentious in alms ! Behold, I give all my 
goods to feed the poor. Do they give of their 
labor as well as of their substance ? I have labored 
more abundantly than they all. Are they willing 
to suffer for their brethren? I have thrown off 
my friends, reputation, ease, country. I have put 
my life in my hands, wandered in strange lands. 
I have given my body to be devoured by the deep, 
parched up with heat, consumed by toil and weari- 
ness, or whatsoever God shall please to bring upon 
me. But does all this, be it more or less, it mat- 
ters not, make me acceptable to God? This then 
I have learned in the ends of the earth, that I am 
fallen short of the glory of God ; that my whole 
heart is altogether corrupt and abominable, and 
consequently my whole life. Seeing that it cannot 
be that an evil tree should bring forth good fruit, 
that my own works, my own sufferings, my own 
righteousness, are so far from reconciliing me to an 
offended God, so far from making any atonement 
for the least of those sins, which are ?nore than the 
hairs of my head, that the most specious of them 
need an atonement themselves or they cannot abide 
the righteous judgment of God. 

If it be said I have faith, I answer, so have the 
devils, a sort of faith, still they are strangers to the 
covenant of promise. The faith I want is a sure 
trust and confidence in God, that through the merits 



GOD HAS HUMBLED ME. 57 

of Christ, my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled 
to the favor of God. God has humbled me and 
proved me, and showed me what was in my heart.'' 

I have thus let Mr. Wesley speak for himself on 
these vital matters, that others may see their own 
features in this looking-glass, and also that Mr. 
Wesley may be fully understood, and that his future 
and glorious Christian experience may appear in 
its true light and thus shall God be glorified. 
While Wesley was in America, Whitefield was 
laboring with great power in England. Certain 
men said "He preached like a lion." He did surely 
preach with great vehemence and God owned his 
labors. He felt that he was commissioned of God 
to call sinners to repentence. Southey says, "It 
is apparent that though the Wesleys should never 
have existed, Whitefield would have given birth to 
Methodism." Some will be disposed to doubt 
this. Whitefield had produced a profound impres- 
sion in Bristol and in London, but Providence 
opened his way to sail for Georgia just before 
Wesley landed in England. 

Whitefield w r as above the middle stature, w T ell 
proportioned, very graceful in manner, complexion 
fair, features regular, eyes small and lively. His 
voice excelled in melody and compass, having a 
great variety of modulations. Long before day 
the streets were filled with people going to hear 



58 LIFE OF KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 

him, with lanterns in their hands. Some were 
jealous but others were glad. 

Let none suppose that the labors of Wesley in 
Georgia were a failure, for when Whitefield arrived 
in America he wrote, " The good Mr. Wesley has 
done in America is inexpressible. His name is 
very precious among the people ; he has laid a 
foundation that I hope neither men nor devils will 
ever be able to shake." 

Wesley himself wrote, " After steps have been 
taken towards publishing the glad tidings both to 
the African and American heathens, many children 
have learned how they ought to serve God, and to 
be useful to their neighbors." 



WONDERFUL SUCCESS. 59 



CHAPTER IV. 



HIS CONVERSION AND WONDERFUL SUCCESS. 

Neither time, nor hardly eternity will tell the 
benefits that John Wesley, and the world through 
him, obtained bv the teachings of the Moravian 
Brethren. After all his learning in the Oxford 
college and from his saintly and talented mother, 
yet he had to enter the school of Christ as a little 
child, and learn the simple way to obtain justifi- 
cation and eternal life by faith alone. 

Whitefield had mightily stirred the people in 
London, and on the second day after the arrival of 
John Wesley in London, he preached on "If any 
man be in Christ he is a new creature." He was 
determined to preach the truth whether he enjoj^ed 
its fullness or not. Southey says of this sermon, 
1 ' It was so high-strained that he was informed he 
was not to preach in that pulpit again." Two days 
after he met three Moravian brethren, Wenceslaus, 
Xcisser, George Schulius and Peter Bohler. It 
was a memorable day in his history. He conversed 
much with the Moravians, but says, "I understood 
them not," but God appointed them as his teachers 



60 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

and also of his brother, Charles. Wesley says, "I 
was clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of 
that faith whereby alone we are saved." When he 
asked Bohler if he should preach faith when he 
did not have it, he was told, "By all means." 
" But what can I preach ?" < 'Preach faith till you 
have it, and then preach it because you have 
it." So he began to preach the doctrine though 
his soul drew back. He not only preached in the 
pulpit but everywhere, on the road, in the taverns, 
to the learned or the unlearned. "A man who sat 
with his hat on while Wesley said grace, turned 
pale, confessed his sins and promised to seek the 
Lord." 

He was amazed at the account the Moravians 
gave of the fruits of living faith and the holiness 
and happiness that accompanied it. At length he 
assented to the teachings of Bohler on faith, but 
denied that it could be instantaneous, ' \ For hitherto 
he had no conception of that perpetual and indivi- 
dual revelation w r hich is now the doctrine of his 
sect. He could not understand how a man could 
at once be thus turned from darkness to light, from 
sin and misery to righteousness and joy in the 
Holy Ghost." He searched the Scriptures, and 
was amazed to find how many were instantly saved 
who came to Christ. But he said the times were 
now changed and we could not look for the same 



LEFT THE ROOM IX AXGER. 61 

now. But Bohler brought him living witnesses, 
time after time, who had been thus immediately 
Baved from all their sins. Who in a moment had 
exercised such a faith in Christ as translated them 
out of darkness into the marvellous light of God. 
So he was driven out of this last retreat. He 
wrote, "Here ended my disputings. Lord help 
my unbelief! I resolved to seek this faith to the 
end. 1. By absolutely renouncing all dependence 
upon my own works of righteousness, on which I 
had really grounded my hope of salvation, though 
I knew it not, from my youth up. 2. By adding 
to the constant use of all the other means of grace, 
continual prayer for this very thing, justifying, 
saving faith and full reliance on the blood of Christ 
shed for me : a trust in him as my Christ, as my 
sole justification, salification and redemption." 

He began to publish these mighty facts of the 
gospel. He spoke of them freely in the Delmotte 
family at Blendon. Mr. Boughton objected, and 
Charles Wesley left the room in anger, declaring 
that these new doctrines were mischievous. 

From Feb. 7, 1738, to May 4, when Bohler 
left England, Wesley sought opportunity to con- 
verse with him. He sat at his feet as a little child, 
content to be counted a fool that he might learn 
the heavenly wisdom. 

Notwithstanding Charles opposed so earnestly, 



62 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

he was the first of the two brothers to be con- 
verted. While sick with pleurisy, christian friends 
visited him and sang a hymn of praise to the Holy 
Ghost. When they were gone he was enabled to 
exercise that faith in Christ that brought salvation, 
and was filled with love and peace. He heard a 
voice saying, " Believe, and thou shalt be saved." 
"He that believeth is passed from death unto life." 
This was May 21, 1738. 

John Wesley had to endure anguish three days 
more. May 24, he opened his Bible to ' ' There are 
given unto us exceeding great and precious promi- 
ses, that by these we might be made partakers of the 
divine nature." On leaving home he opened to 
the text, "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of 
God." In the afternoon he went to St. Paul's 
Cathedral, where the anthem was full of comfort. 
At night he was at the society meeting at Alders- 
gate street, where a person read Luther's preface 
to the Epistle to the Romans, in which Luther 
teaches what faith is, and also that faith alone justi- 
fies, possessed of it the heart is " cheered, elevated, 
excited and transported with sweet affections 
toward God." Receiving the Holy Ghost, through 
faith, the soul is renewed and made spiritual, he is 
impelled to fulfill the Law by the vital energy in 
himself." While this preface was being read, the 
Holy Ghost flashed the light into the mind and 



SANG AND PRAYED. 63 

Heart of Wesley and lie was bom of God. He 
writes, "I felt my heart strangely warmed. I 
felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salva- 
tion ; and an assurance was given me, that he had 
taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me 
from the law of sin and death. And I then testi- 
fied openly to all there, what I now first felt in 
my heart." 

This was wonderful, glorious, a bright morning 
after a long, dark night, a translation from "the 
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's 
dear Son." His friends gathered around him and 
took him at about ten o'clock, to see his brother. 
They rejoiced in Christ greatly and sang and 
prayed with joy unspeakable. We might say that 
Methodism was born that very night. A form of 
Christianity which was soon established and which 
shall run on till it emerges into the glories of the 
millenium. 

We have seen how intensely pious and devoted 
to God he was before this ; how hard he worked 
in the fear of God ; now he worked from the prin- 
ciple of love, for he had the love of God shed 
abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto 
him. 

Soon the enemy suggested "This cannot be 
faith, for w T here is your joy." He was much buf- 
feted with temptations, but he cried to God and 



64 LITE OE REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

they fled away. He writes, "Herein I found the 
difference between this and my former state chief- 
ly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with 
all my might under the law as well as under grace. 
But then I was sometimes, if not often conquered ; 
and now I was always conqueror." Before, he 
worked for salvation ; now he worked from it. — 
Before, he worked to save himself, now he worked 
to save others." When he related all this to his 
mother, who was then living in London, and was 
still his guide and counsellor, she strongly ap- 
proved it ; she heartily blessed God who had 
brought him to so just a way of thinking, It 
seems strange that he should have lived till he 
was thirty-five years of age without having gained 
a clear apprehension of the doctrine and experience 
of justification by faith in Jesus and of regenera- 
tion by the power of the Holy Ghost, yea, and he 
had also the witness of the Spirit that he was a 
child of God. He now received the Spirit of 
adoption whereby he could cry out "Abba, 
Father." 

Wesley was so indebted to the Moravians for 
his spiritual enlightenment that he was led to visit 
Herrnhut, Germany, with Ingham and six others. 
At Marienborn, where he stayed two weeks, he 
met Zinzendorf, who had there organized a brother- 
hood of about fifty disciples from various countries. 




PETER BOULKK. 



THE POWER OF FAITH. 65 

Wesley writes, "I continually met with what I 
sought for, living proofs of the power of faith; 
persons saved from inward as well as outward sin. 
by the love of God shed abroad in their hearts ; 
and from all doubt and fear, by the abiding witness 
of the Holy Ghost given unto them." Zinzendorf 
taught him 1. That justification is the forgiveness 
of sins ; 2. The moment a man flies to Christ he is 
justified ; 3. And has peace with God, but not 
always joy; 4. Nor, perhaps he may not know 
that he is justified till long after ; 5. For the assur- 
ance of it is distinct from justification ; 6. But 
others may know he is justified by his power 
over sin, by his seriousness, by his love of the 
brethren and his hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness which alone prove the spiritual life to be 
begun. 

He reached Herrnhut August 1, 1738. After 
making his observations he writes, "God has 
given me at length the desire of my heart. I am 
with a church whose conversation is in Heaven, in 
whom is the mind that was in Christ and who 
walk as he walked. As they have all one Lord 
and one faith, so they are all partakers of one 
spirit, the spirit of meekness and love, which uni- 
formly and continually animates all their conver- 
sation. 0, how high and how holy a thing Christ- 
ianity is, and how widely distant from that which 



66 LIFE OF -REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

is so called though it neither purifies the heart nor 
renews the life, after the image of our blessed Re- 
deemer." 

The young men marched around the town in 
the evening, according to their custom, singing 
praise with instruments of music, and gathering 
in a circle on a neighboring hill to join in prayer. 
They returned with songs and made their mutual 
adieus by commending one another to God in the 
great square. 

They called their graveyard " God's acre" and 
buried their dead with hymns. Wesley was so 
delighted that he would gladly have spent his days 
with them, but God called him to other fields of 
labor. He returned to England with many rich 
lessons that he never forgot. Who can tell how 
much Methodism owes to this visit to the Mora- 
vians? He reached England in Sept., 1738. 

Peter Bohler wrote to Zinzendorf , ' ' I travelled 
with John and Charles Wesley from London to 
Oxford. John is a good natured man, he knew 
he did not properly believe in the Saviour, and 
was willing to be taught. His brother is much 
disturbed in his mind, but does not know how 
he shall begin to be acquainted with the Saviour. 
Our mode of believing in the Saviour is so easy 
to Englishmen that they cannot reconcile them- 
selves to it ; if it were a little more artful they 



his brother's preaching. 67 

would much sooner find their way into it. Of 
faith in Jesus they have no other idea than the 
people in general have. They justify themselves, 
and therefore they jilwa3 T s take it for granted that 
they believe already, and try to prove their faith 
by their works, and thus so plague and torment 
themselves that they are at heart very miserable." 
These wise and mighty words will serve to show 
why these Wesley s were so long in obtaining sal- 
vation, and may throw some light upon the paths 
of those who may be stumbling along the same 
rugged path. 

When John Wesley returned to England he 
found that his brother Charles had been preaching 
with so much power, that many had believed and 
entered into the same rest of faith, including some 
ministers, but many of the churches were closed 
against him. John Wesley began at once to 
preach this great salvation. He preached three 
times on Sunday besides expounding to the Mino- 
ries. On Monday he began to meet the society, 
which was composed of thirty-two persons. He 
preached on Monday at Bear Yard, and on Tuesday 
at Aldersgate street, where he was converted. 
On Thursday he preached at Fetter Lane, and on 
Saturday at Newgate. On Sunday he preached 
three times. 



68 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Thus the zeal of God's work devoured him up. It 
was more than his meat and drink to glorify God 
and see sinners saved, but soon one church after 
another was closed against him because he applied 
the truth with such power to the consciences of 
the people that they would not endure it. But 
when one door closed another door was opened. 
Many prisoners were glad to hear the good news of 
salvation, some of these prisoners were really con- 
verted to God. One of them when about to die, 
said, " I feel a peace which I could not have be- 
lieved possible, and I know it is the peace of God 
which passeth all understanding." Wesley went 
to Oxford and preached a memorable sermon on 
" By grace are ye saved through faith," which was 
afterwards published. In it he showed : 1. That 
the faith through which we are saved is not barely 
the faith of the heathen, who believes that God 
is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who dili- 
gently seek him ; 2. Nor is it the faith of a devil 
who, in addition to the faith of the heathen, be- 
lieves that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, 
the Saviour of the world ; 3. Nor is it barely the 
faith which the apostles had in Christ, but it is the 
full reliance on the blood of Christ — a trust in 
the merits of his life, death and resurrection, a 
recumbency upon him as our atonement and 
our life, as given for us and living in us, and, in 



6 < god's free GRACE. " T)9 

consequence thereof, a closing with him and cleav- 
ing to him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi- 
cation and redemption, or, in a word, our salvation. 

The salvation that such a faith brings is : 1. From 
the guilt of sin ; 2. From servile fear ; 3. From 
the power of sin. He is pardoned and regene- 
rated, has the witness of the spirit and lives with- 
out sin ; surely this is a state of salvation. To 
preach salvation by faith was not to preach against 
holiness or good works. This faith procures holi- 
ness and enables us to perform good works. 

He preached another sermon on " God's free 
grace," in which he taught that the grace or love 
of God, whence cometh our salvation, is free in 
all, and free for all. Then to convince all that he 
was a good churchman he published a pamphiet on 
" The doctrine of salvation, faith and good works, 
extracted from the homilies of the Church of En<r- 
land." This is a strong and forcible defence, 
showing that the very doctrines that he is teaching 
are plainly taught in the homilies of the church 
he had loved so long. The plain teaching of these 
doctrines started a system of religion that has led 
to the greatest revival of modern or of ancient 
times. Wesley defined the witness of the Spirit 
as " the love of God shed abroad in the heart, 
producing joy which no man taketh away, joy un- 
speakable and full of glory." Again, "I believe 



70 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

every Christian who has not received it should 
pray for the witness of God's Spirit that he is a 
child of God. This witness I believe is necessary 
to my salvation." He testifies that he had seen 
many persons changed in a moment from the spirit 
of horror, fear and despair, to a spirit of hope, joy 
and peace, and from sinful desires, till then reign- 
ing over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of 
God. Ponder well the following: Sept. 3, he 
writes, " I talked largely with my mother, who 
told me that till a short time since she had scarce 
heard such a thing mentioned as the having God's 
Spirit bearing witness with our spirit, much less 
did she imagine that this was the common privi- 
lege of all true believers, " therefore," she said, 
' ' I never durst ask for it myself, but two or three 
weeks ago, while my son Hall was pronouncing 
these words, in delivering the cup to me, ' The 
blood of Jesus Christ which was given for thee,' 
the words struck through my heart, and I knew 
that God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven me all 
my sins." So it seems that the mother of the 
Wesleys was greatly blessed by the spiritual light 
that God revealed to her sons, indeed it is a seri- 
ous question whether, up to this time, she had 
ever known her sins forgiven. 

She was greatly comforted with the presence 
and teachings of her sons, and says, " I am be- 



BOOKS HE WROTE. 71 

conic as a little child and need continual succour." 
Wesley wrote an abstract of the life of Ihomas 
Halyburton, a Scotchman, which was published in 
London. Tyerman says, "It is beautifully written, 
and is a most edifying book/' He published also 
" Nicodemus : or a treatise on the fear of man ;" 
also, " A treatise on justification by faith only ;" 
also, a tract entitled " The character of a Method- 
ists "A Methodist is one who has the love of 
God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost 
given unto him ; one who loves the Lord his God 
with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with 
all his mind, and with all his strength, rejoices 
evermore, prays without ceasing, and in every- 
thing; gives thanks. His heart is full of love to 
all mankind and is purified from envy, malice, 
wrath and every unkind or malign affection. His 
one desire and the one design of his life is not to 
do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. 
He keeps not only some or most of God's com- 
mandments, but all, from the least unto the great- 
est. He follows not the customs of the world ; 
for vice does not lose its nature by becoming fash- 
ionable. He cannot lay up treasure upon earth 
any more than he can take fire in his bosom. He 
cannot adorn himself on any pretense with gold 
or costly apparel. He cannot join in any diver- 
sion that has the least tendencj r to vice. He can- 



72 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

not speak evil of his neighbor any more than he 
can tell a lie. He cannot utter unkind or idle 
words. No corrupt communication ever comes 
out of his mouth. He does good unto all men." 
If only those who measure up to this full grown 
manhood are Methodists, then there are many 
among the millions of Methodists of this day who 
are not worthy of the name. The standard is 
good, let us measure up to it." Wesley published 
also this year, a volume of hymns and sacred 
poems. 

The two Wesleys with Messrs. Hall, Kinchin, 
Ingham and Whitefield and about sixty of their 
brethren held a love feast in Fetter Lane. About 
three o'clock in the morning as they continued 
instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily 
upon them, insomuch that many cried out for 
exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As 
soon as they had recovered a little from the awe 
and amazement, which the presence of the Divine 
Majesty had inspired. They broke out with one 
voice "We praise thee O God; we acknowledge 
thee to be the Lord." It was a pentecostal season 
indeed. God often manifested ■ himself in these 
society meetings and filled them with his glory. 
A conference of seven ministers was held at 
Islington to consider important matters. They 
continued in fasting till three o'clock in the after- 



PERSECUTIONS. 73 

noon, then parted with a conviction that God teas 
about to do mighty things amony them. The king- 
dom of Christ upon earth can only be established 
by such seasons of continued waiting before the 
Lord. When it pleases God to bestow the pente- 
costal baptism upon his chosen few, who thereby 
become mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, 
and set the kingdom on a blaze. Every Christian 
frequently needs a personal pentecost. 

During these days Whitefield having returned 
from America was preaching to vast multitudes, 
sometimes to twenty thousand, who at times were 
< 'all affected and drenched in tears together." He 
had a special adaptation to out-door preaching 
and helped to open the way for the Wesleys to 
reach the masses, as they gathered in nature's 
temple, under the canopy of heaven. 

Persecutions were in perfect order. Satan 
always rages when his kingdom is in danger. 
When John Wesley was preaching in Bristol the 
mob filled the court, and street, and alleys around 
the place, and shouted, and cried, and swore fear- 
fully. A number of the rioters were arrested 
and within a fortnight one of them had hanged 
himself. Another was seriously sick and sent to 
Mr. Wesley a request for prayers, and a third 
came to him and confessed that he had been hired 
and made drunk, but, on coming to the place, 
found himself deprived of speech and power. 



74 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Methodism found its way into Wales, for Eng- 
land could not hold it. Wesley and Whitefield 
proclaimed the truth to the candid people of this 
province and great was the fruit. Howell Harris 
having studied at Oxford for the church, was so 
disgusted at the immorality and infidelity that 
prevailed, that he returned to Wales and began to 
preach publicly and from house to house, and 
soon formed several societies, and thirty of them 
were organized before Whitefield went to Wales, 
and in three years more they numbered three 
hundred. Harris was only a lay preacher, for 
they refused to ordain him because of his irregu- 
larities. He was a good man, full of the Holy 
Ghost and faith, and much people were added to 
the Lord." 

While Whitefield was preaching from "God 
willeth all men to be saved," at Newgate prison, 
and praying that God would bear witness to his 
words, "One and another and another sank to the 
earth as though they were thunderstruck. All 
Newgate rang with the cries of those whom the 
work of God had cut to the heart." 

Methodism prevailed so rapidly in Bristol that 
they found it both necessary and convenient to 
build the first Methodist chapel in the world in 
that city. Wesley appointed "eleven feoffers" 
or trustees, who were to take the financial 



FIRST METIIODTST CHURCH. i .) 

responsibility. But Whitefield and others wrote 
him that they could not help him to build this 
house unless he held it in his own name, for other- 
wise the "feoffers would control him and dismiss 
him from the premises whenever he did not please 
them. He followed this good advice, and there- 
after all his church property was held in his own 
name until near his death, when he gave a "deed 
of declaration" to his legal conference, "Decisions 
in the Court of Chancery, made under this doc- 
ument, have given security to the property and 
stability to the whole economy of Wesleyan 
Methodism down to our day." 

It was marvellous in the eyes of all, that under 
the quiet preaching of John Wesley so many 
should be slain by the power of God. While 
preaching at Bristol, a young woman sank down 
in violent agony, as did five or six in another 
meeting in the evening. The mother of this 
daughter was greatly offended, but she too fell 
down slain before the Lord. A bold blasphemer 
was smitten before the Lord, and cried out in 
agony. Sometimes scores were smitten at once 
and fell as dead men, including a traveller who 
had paused but a few minutes to hear the word of 
the Lord. Somebody lent one of Wesley's ser- 
wons to a man who opposed this strange power, 



76 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

and while he was reading that sermon, he sudden- 
ly turned pale, fell to the floor and cried mightily 
to God for mercy. 

Wesley still remained a minister of the Epis- 
copal church and had a profound regard for that 
organization. But he was providentially led to 
organize the Methodist church in the following 
manner. He writes, "In the latter part of the 
year 1739, eight or ten persons came to me in 
London and desired that I should spend some 
time in prayer with them and advise them how to 
flee from the wrath to come ; this was the rise of 
the United Society. Twelve came the first night, 
forty the next and soon after a hundred." Little 
did John Wesley think to what this small beginning 
would grow. 

"See how great a flame aspires, 
Kindled by a spark of grace." 

Soon after this, Whitefield came again to 
America and extended his labors even to Philadel- 
phia and Boston, and his words were in the 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power. About 
this time Whitefied took decided ground in favor 
of Calvinism, while Wesley was forever firmly 
fixed on Arminianism. Thus those true and 
good men were led to differ in opinion, but they 
still were one in heart, and labored on with 
unabated zeal till the Master called them to their 
heavenly rest. 



DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. , 77 

There were also differences of opinion with 
Wesley and the Moravian brethren, which it is not 
necessary to detail. No doubt the providence of 
God would have Methodism stand out alone before 
the world, therefore he disentangled it from its 
former surroundings, that it may stand out boldly 
and alone, and work out its own destiny in the 
Christian world. Wesley had a reason for his 
conduct. 

On the question of predestination he writes in 
his sermon on Free grace : ' ' According to predes- 
tination, free grace is not free for all, but only for 
those whom God hath ordained to life. The 
greater part of mankind hath God ordained to 
death and it is not free for them ; them hath God 
hated, and therefore, before they were born, de- 
creed that they should die eternally, and this He 
absolutely decreed because it was His sovereign 
will. Accordingly, they are born for this : to be 
destroyed body and soul in hell. And they grew 
up under the irrevocable curse of God, without 
any possibility of redemption." He objects to 
this doctrine, 1. Because it renders all preaching 
vain; 2. It tends to destroy that holiness which 
is the end of all the ordinances of God, and for 
many other reasons ; lastly, "It is full of blas- 
phemy, for it represents our blessed Lord as a 
hypocrite and dissembler, in saying one thing and 



78 LIFE OF "REV. JOHX WESLEY. 

meaning another, — in pretending a love which He 
has not ; it also represents the most holy God as 
more false, more cruel and more unjust than the 
devil, for in point of fact, it says God has con- 
demned millions of souls to everlasting fire for 
continuing; in sin which, for want of grace he gives 
them not, they are unable to avoid. This is the 
blasphemy clearly contained in this horrible decree 
of predestination, and here I fix my foot. On 
this I join issue with every asserter of it. You 
represent God as worse than the devil. You say 
you will prove it from scripture. Hold — what 
will you prove from scripture ? that God is worse 
than the devil ? It cannot be." 

I have neither time nor inclination to enter into 
this controversy. The battle has been fought and 
the victory won — posterity will tell hoy/ much 
has been gained by the labors of the well-trained 
and logical mind of John Wesley. 

It is almost too early to speak of the contro- 
versy between John Fletcher and the Calvanists, 
which discussion has done so much to influence 
the Methodists of all coming ages. 



BAND MEETINGS, 79 



CHAPTER V. 



METHODISM CONSOLIDATING, AND PREVAILING. 

We have seen how the class-meetings were organ- 
ized, which led to the organization of the Method- 
ist societies, and then of the church. It may be 
well to notice how the Band meetings commenced. 
They were first adopted by the Moravians. "Our 
band meetings are small companies of serious 
people of the same sex, and in the same condi- 
tion of life, whether married or single, who meet 
occasionally to converse with each other on their 
religious state, and to engage in mutual prayer. 
They were grounded on, 'confess your faults one 
to another, and pray one for another, that ye may 
be healed.' They met weekly to confess their faults 
one to another, and for mutual edification. The 
homily on repentance, said : 'We ought to con- 
fess our weaknesses, and infirmities one to another 
to the end, that knowing each other's frailties, we 
may the more earnestly pray together unto 
Almighty God our Heavenly Father." 5 Jeremy 
Taylor has well said, "He who would preserve 



80 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

his humility should choose some spiritual person 
to whom he shall oblige himself to discover his 
very thoughts and fancies, every act of his, and 
all his intercourse with others, in which there 
may be danger, that by such an openness of 
spirit he may expose every blast of vain glory, 
every idle thought to be chastened and lessened 
by the rod of spiritual discipline, and he shall find 
himself tied to confess every proud thought. Every 
vanity of his spirit will also perceive that they 
must not dwell with him, nor find any kindness 
from him. Every true Christian will see the 
necessity and blessedness of such an organiza- 
tion in all ages." Next to the class-meetings per- 
haps, nothing contributed so much to the success 
of Methodism as the ' 'Lay ministry. " It seems 
to have been no part of the original plan of 
Wesley to employ laymen in preaching the gos- 
pel, but God raised up such lay preachers as 
Thomas Maxfield, and thrust them out, and gave 
them great success. They at last overcome all his 
prejudice for Church orders, and compelled Mr. 
Wesley to give them a license, not only to exhort, 
but also to preach the gospel. This victory was 
not gained without the help of his mother, who 
when she found that he was going to prevent 
Maxfield from preaching, she told him plainly 
that she believed Mr Maxfield was as much 



Wesley's societies. 81 

called of God to preach the gospel, as was John 
Wesley. This turned the scale, and settled the 
question. Wesley would not fight against God. 
Henceforth Thomas Maxfield, and then Thomas 
Richards, and others, were acknowledged "as sons 
in the gospel." 

In the seventy-third year of her age Mrs. 
Wesley departed in peace, July 3, 1742, while 
Wesley and five of his sisters stood around and 
sung at her request, a hymn of praise. She was 
buried among the illustrious dead of Bunhill 
fields, City road, London. 

Wesley's Societies increased, and so did his lay 
ministers ; during this year he had twenty-three 
itinerants besides several local preachers among 
his laymen, who travelled and preached, con- 
tinually. They had great success in Wales, and 
societies multiplied, notwithstanding the mobs 
assailed them. Heaven favored them, though hell 
frowned upon them. 

Under Wesley's first sermon at Moorfields, John 
Nelson was converted, who was an honest York- 
shire mason, who became both a zealous and faith 
ful preacher of the gospel. When requested to 
work on Sunday, he said, "I would rather starve 
than offend God." He fasted once a week, and 
gave the food to feed the poor. He was one of 
the apostles of early Methodism. Born in York- 



82 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

shire, he became one of the chief founders of 
Methodism in that county. Many of the profli- 
gates were converted, drunkards became sober. 
Ale houses were closed up, and the word of God 
sounded forth to Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax, and 
all the west of Yorkshire. While Nelson was 
thus sweeping through Yorkshire, Wesley went 
to Newcastle, a degraded mining region. He 
walked down town, where he found drunkenness, 
cursing and swearing, abounding from both 
children and parents. At seven o'clock on Sun- 
day morning, he and a friend began to sing ; a few 
gathered, and before he finished, there were from 
twelve to fifteen hundred listening to the truth. 
"He was wounded for our transgressions," was 
the text. The people were amazed at his offer of 
mercy, and stood ' < gaping and staring." At 5 p. m. 
he preached again, but the hill was covered from 
top to bottom. He never saw such a multitude. 
Again he proclaimed mercy by preaching from "I 
will heal their backsliding." They were ready to 
tread him under foot out of pure love and kind- 
ness. He had to leave them and go and join Nel- 
son, still they clamored for the bread of life. 
Soon Charles Wesley preached to them, and then 
John came again among them. A society was 
formed and a church was built, and this became 
one of the strongholds of Methodism. He writes, 



FORMING OF SOCIETIES. 83 

"I never saw a work of God in any other place 
go on so evenly and gradually, continually rising 
step by step." 

On his return he stopped at Ep worth, but the 
drunken rector refused to let him in the church, 
so he stood upon his father's tombstone and 
preached with power to the masses that thronged 
to hear the word of life. For a week he daily 
took his stand above the ashes of his father and 
proclaimed the glorious gospel of the blessed God. 
Some of the converts were carried before a justice 
of the peace, who enquired what they had done. 
' 'Why, they pretend to be better than other people, 
and pray from morning till night." "But have 
they done nothing else?" "Yes," said one man, 
"they have converted my wife ; before this she 
was an awful scold, but now she is as quiet as a 
lamb." "Then take them home and let them 
convert all the scolds in the town." 

Societies were forming on every side, and chap- 
els were already built in Bristol, London, Kings- 
wood and Newcastle. After consulting with his 
brethren, they formed the General Eules of the 
United Societies, which has been incorporated into 
the constitutional law of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of America. It is a wonderful setting 
forth of the duties of those who would be true 
followers of the Lamb of God among the people 



84 LIFE OF 11EV. JOHN WESLEY. 

called Methodists. For the good of the common 
reader, and for all, I transcribe the whole. It 
shows the wisdom of those who nlade it, and of 
all who make it the rule of their lives. 

"This was the rise of the "United Society," first 
in Europe and then in America. Such a society 
is no other than ' ' a company of men having the 
form and seeking the power of godliness, united 
in order to pray together, to receive the word of 
exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, 
that they may help each other to work out their 
salvation." That it may the more easily be dis- 
cerned whether they are indeed working out their 
own salvation, each society is divided into smaller 
companies, called classes, according to their re- 
spective places of abode. There are about twelve 
persons in a class, one of whom is styled the 
"leader." It is his duty to see each person in his 
class once a week at least, in order to inquire how 
their souls prosper; to advise, reprove, comfort 
or exhort, as occasion may require ; to receive 
what they are willing to give toward the relief of 
the preachers, church and poor; to meet the min- 
isters and the stewards of the society once a week, 
in order to inform the minister of any that are 
sick, or of any that walk disorderly and will not 
be reproved ; to pay the stewards what they have 
received of their several classes in the week pre- 



CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 85 

coding. There is only one condition previously 
required of those who desire admission into these 
societies — "a desire to flee from the wrath to 
come, and to be saved from their sins." But 
wherever this is really fixed in the soul, it will be 
shown by its fruits. It is therefore expected of 
all who continue therein, that they should continue 
to evidence their desire of salvation. First, by 
doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, 
especially that which is most generally practiced, 
such as the taking of the name of God in vain ; 
the profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing 
ordinary work therein, or by buying or selling; 
drunkenness, buying or selling spirituous liquors, 
or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme 
necessity ; slaveholding, buying or selling slaves ; 
fighting, quarreling, brawling, brother going to 
law with brother ; returning evil for evil, or railing 
for railing ; the using many words in buying or 
selling ; the buying or selling goods that have not 
paid the duty ; the giving or taking things on 
usury, that is, unlawful interest; uncharitable or 
unprofitable conversation, particularly speaking 
evil of magistrates or of ministers ; doing to others 
as w r e would not they should do unto us ; doing 
what we know is not for the glory of God, as the 
putting on of gold and costly apparel ; the taking 
such diversions as cannot be used in the name of 



86 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

the Lord Jesus ; the sin^ino* those sono*s, or read- 

■* CD CD CD ' 

ing those books, which do not tend to the knowl- 
edge or love of God ; softness and needless self- 
indulgence ; laying up treasure upon earth ; bor- 
rowing without a probability of paying, or taking 
up goods without a probability of paying for 
them. 

It is expected of all who continue in these soci- 
eties, that they should continue to evidence their 
desire of salvation. 

Secondly, by doing good : by being in every 
kind merciful after their power, as they have 
opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, 
and, as far as possible, to all men. To their 
bodies, of the ability which God giveth, by giving 
food to the hungry, by clothing the naked, by 
visiting or helping them that are sick or in prison. 
To their souls, by instructing, reproving, or ex- 
horting all we have any intercourse with ; tramp- 
ling under foot that enthusiastic doctrine, that 
' ' we are not to do good unless our hearts be free 
to it." By doing good, especially to them that are 
of the household of faith, or groaning so to be ; 
employing them preferably to others ; buying one 
of another ; helping each other in business ; and 
so much the more because the world will love its 
own, and them only. By all possible diligence 
and frugality, that the Gospel be not blamed. By 



GENERAL RULES. 87 

running with patience the race which is set before 
them, denying themselves and taking up their 
cross daily ; submitting to bear the reproach of 
Christ, to be as the filth and offscouring of the 
world ; and looking that men should say all man- 
ner of evil of them falsely for the Lord's sake. 

It is expected of all who desire to continue in 
these societies, that they should continue to evi- 
dence their desire of salvation. 

Thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinances 
of God, such as the public worship of God ; the 
ministry of the word, either read or expounded ; 
the Supper of the Lord ; family and private 
prayer f searching the Scriptures, and fasting or 
abstinence. 

These are the general rules of our societies, all 
of which we are taught of God to observe, even 
in his written word, which is the only rule, and 
the sufficient rule, both of our faith and practice. 
And all these we know His Spirit writes on truly 
awakened hearts. If there be any among us who 
observe them not, who habitually break any of 
them, let it be known unto them who watch over 
that soul as they who must give an account. We 
will admonish him of the error of his ways. We 
will bear with him for a season. But if then he 
repent not, be hath no more place among us. We 
have delivered our own souls." 



88 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Thus the founder of Methodism laid down these 
Scriptural rules, which are remarkable for their 
general outline of Christian duty, and also for the 
particular manner in which they specify the vari- 
ous duties of the followers of Christ. No doubt 
the success or defeat of the whole church has been 
in proportion to their fidelity or want of fidelity 
to these "General Rules." Wesley exclaimed, 
"Oh that we may never make anything more or 
less the term of union with us, but the having the 
mind of Christ and the walking as he walked." 

It would naturally be expected that people who 
lived by these rules would die in holy triumph, 
and so it was. We have their dying testimonies 
before us. Anne Cole, being asked by Wesley 
whether she chose to live or die, answered, "I 
choose neither, I choose nothing ; I am in my 
Saviour's hands and I have no will but his." 
Another member said, "I am very ill, but I am 
very well; oh, I am happy, happy, happy ! My 
spirit continually rejoices in God my Saviour. 
Life or death is all one to me. I have no dark- 
ness, no cloud. My body indeed is weak and in 
pain, but my soul is all joy and praise." Jane 
Muncy exclaimed, "I faint not, I murmur not, I 
rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks. 
God is ever with me, and I have nothing to do 
but praise him." Another woman cried out in her 



PERSECUTION PREVAILED. 89 

dying agonies, "Oh, how loving God is to me! 
but he is loving to every man, and loves every 
soul as well as he loves mine." Another testifies, 
" Death stares me in the face, but I fear him not." 
Hannah Richardson said, "I have no fear, no 
doubt, no trouble. Heaven is open. I see Jesus 
Christ with all his angels and saints in white. I 
see what I cannot utter or express." Sister 
Hooper exclaimed, "I am in great pain, but in 
greater joy." Another said, "I never felt such 
love before ; I love every soul ; I am all love, and 
so is God." Rachel Peacock sang hymns inces- 
santly, and was so filled with joy that she shouted, 
"Though I groan I feel no pain at all, Christ so 
rejoices and fills my heart." 

Still persecution prevailed, the enemies of God 
and man opposed. At Deptford, while Wesley 
was preaching, "many poor wretches were got 
together, utterly devoid of both common sense 
and common decency, who cried aloud as though 
just from ' among the tombs.' " In London, many 
men of the baser sort mixed themselves with the 
female part of the congregation, and behaved with 
great indecency. They knocked down the con- 
stable who ordered them to keep the peace. In 
Long Lane they pelted Wesley with stones ; one 
of great size passed near his head. In Mary la- 
bone Fields, in the midst of his sermon out of 



90 LIFE OF REV, JOHN WESLEY. 

doors, missiles fell thick and fast on every side. 
In Hoxton, the rabble brought an ox, which they 
tried to drive through the congregation. At 
Swindon, the mob surrounded the congregation, 
rang a bell, blew a horn, and used a fire engine in 
drenching them with water ; guns were fired over 
the people's heads, and rotten eggs were plentiful. 
At Hampton, the mob beat a drum and fired 
squibs and crackers. "For an half hour, hogs- 
wash and fetid water were poured upon him and 
his congregation, who all the while stood perfectly 
still in secret prayer, with their eyes and hands 
lifted up to heaven." At Stratton, cudgels were 
used unmercifully ; some of the congregation had 
blood streaming down their faces, some were 
dragged away by the hair of their heads ; the mob 
bellowed and roared like maniacs. 

Still Methodism went on and prospered, and 
went on from conquering to conquer. Sometimes 
the powers of darkness were let loose and evil 
spirits seemed to have possessed some of the peo- 
ple. 

Wesley tells of a young woman who was raving 
so that it took several persons to hold her. 
" Anguish, horror and despair were manifest in 
her countenance." She cried out, " I am damned ! 
Lost forever ! Six days ago you might have 
helped me ; but it is passed. I am the devil's 



CONVERSIONS. 91 

now ; I have given myself to him ; his I am, him 
I must serve ; with him I must go to hell ; I will 
be his, I will serve him, I will go with him to 
hell; I cannot be saved, I will not be saved ; I 
must, I will, I will be damned." She then began 
praying to the devil, and we began, " Arm of the 
Lord, awake, awake!" She immediately sunk 
down as if asleep, but as soon as we left oif broke 
out again with inexpressible vehemence, "Stony 
hearts break ! I am a warning unto you. Break, 
break, poor stony hearts ! Why w r ill you not 
break ? What can be done more for stony hearts ? 
I am damned that you might be saved ! Now 
break, now break, poor stony hearts ! You need 
not be damned, though I must." She then fixed 
her eyes on the corner of the ceiling and said, 
"There he is; aye, there he is! Come, good 
devil, come. Take me away, I am yours, I will 
be yours, take me away?' "We interrupted her 
again by calling upon God, on which she sunk 
down as before. And another young woman be- 
gan to roar as loud as she had done. We con- 
tinued in prayer till past eleven, when God, in a 
moment, spoke peace into the soul of the one first 
tormented, and then of the other, and they both 
joined in singing praise to him who had stilled the 
enemy and the avenger." If the devil possessed 
men and women in the days of the Son of God, 



92 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

why may he not now? And if Christ cast out 
devils then, why not now? Sin and Satan, and 
God and holiness, are just the same. 

Wesley continued his itinerant labors, and God 
made his preaching a great blessing to the people, 
and although he found himself coming short of the 
glory of God, still he proclaimed a free and full 
salvation to all. He, and two friends, rode to 
Bradford, where he preached to nearly a thousand 
persons, who seemed deeply affected. Four days 
after, he writes, " Having been provoked to speak 
unadvisedly with my lips, I preached on Bowling 
Green in great weakness on 'Lazarus come forth.' 
I was surprised that any good should be done, but 
God quickens others by those who are dead them- 
selves. A man came to me and declared he had 
now received the Spirit of life, and so did a woman 
at the same time. We had great power among 
us while I displayed the believer's privileges from 
the eighth chapter of Romans. The next day I 
met between thirty and forty colliers and their 
wives at Mr. Willis', and administered the sacra- 
ment to them, but found no comfort myself from 
that or any other ordinance. I always find strength 
for the work of the ministry, but when my work 
is over, my bodily and spiritual strength both 
leave me. I can pray for others, not for myself. 
God, by me, strengthens the weak hands and con- 



LONGING TO BE DISCHARGED. 93 

firms the feeble knees, yet am I as a man in whom 
is no strength. I am weary and faint in my mind, 
continually longing to be discharged." 

Soon after this he had power to pray for himself, 
and confessed that it was good for him to be in 
desertion. He was greatly strengthened and com- 
forted by opening his Bible to Ish. 54 : 7,8 : " For 
a small moment have I forsaken thee : but with 
great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath 
I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with 
everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, 
saith the Lord thy Redeemer." He saw the hand 
of God was applying the rod, but he was in sweet 
submission to the divine will. 

How truly could he adopt the following as the 
language of his heart. 

" O, grant that nothing in my soul 
May dwell, but thy pure luve alone! 

O, may thy love possess me whole, 
My joy, my treasure and my crown ! 

Strange flames far from my heart remove, 

My every act, word, thought, be love ! 

He writes : < ' Many years since, I saw that with- 
out holiness no man could see the Lord. I began 
by following after it, and inciting all with whom I 
had any intercourse, to do the same. Ten years 
after this God gave me a clearer view than I had 
before of the way to obtain it, namely, by faith 



94 LIFE OF KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 

in the Son of God, and immediately I declared to 
all : ' We are saved from sin, we are made holy 
by faith.' This I testified in private, in public, in 
print, and God confirmed it by a thousand wit- 
nesses." — Vol. yii, p. 38. 

Again he whites, " In the evening, while I was 
reading prayers at Snowsfield, I found such light 
and strength as I never remember to have had be- 
fore. I saw every thought, as well as action or 
word just as it was rising in my heart, and whether 
it was right before God, or tainted with pride or 
selfishness. I awakened the next morning, by 
the grace of God, in the same spirit, and living 
with two or three that believed in Jesus, I felt 
such an awe and tender sense of the presence of 
God as greatly confirmed me therein, so that God 
was before me all day long. I sought and found 
him in every place. I could truly say, when I lay 
down at night, 'now I have lived a day.' " 

Who ever will search through the writings of 
John Wesley will find that he seldom mentions 
his experience of full salvation. It is not so much 
expressed as implied. The whole work of his de- 
voted life testifies that he was entirely sanctified. 
Who, but such a saint, could write : " The cir- 
cumcision of the heart is that habitual disposition 
of soul which, in the sacred writings, is termed 
holiness, and which directly implies the being 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 95 

cleansed from sin, from all filthiness both of the 
flesh and of the spirit, and, by consequence, the 
being endowed with those virtues which were also 
in Christ Jesus; the being so renewed in the 
image of our mind as to be perfect, as our Father 
in Heaven is perfect. I believe it to be an inward 
thing, namely, the life of God in the soul of man, 
a participation of the Divine nature, the mind that 
was in Christ, or the renewal of our hearts after 
the image of Him that created us. What is then 
the perfection of which a man is capable while he 
dwells in a corruptible body ? It is the complying 
with that kind command : ' My son, <rive me thy 
heart.' It is the loving God with all the heart, 
and with all the soul, and with all the mind. This 
is the sum of Christian perfection. It is all com- 
prised in that one word, love." When Dr. Gib- 
son, the Bishop of London, asked him what he 
meant by perfection, he told him without any dis- 
guise or reserve, who replied: "Mr. Wesley, if 
this be all you mean, publish it to all the world." 
He answered, "My Lord, I will." 

At the first conference, in 1744, Christian per- 
fection was defined, " A renewal in the image of 
God, in righteousness and true holiness. To be a 
perfect Christian is to love the Lord our God with 
all our heart, soul, mind and strength — implying 



96 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

the destruction of all inward sin, and faith in the 

condition and instrument by which such a state of 

grace is obtained." 

No wonder that he could sing : 

u Jesus, see ray panting breast, 
See, I pant in # thee to rest, 
Gladly would I now be clean, 
Cleanse me now from every sin." 

Then, in the language of his brother Charles, 

he could exclaim : 

; Saviour, to thee my soul looks up, 

My present Saviour thou ; 
With all the confidence of hope, 
I claim the blessing now. 

'Tis done! thou dost this moment save, 

With full salvation bless ; 
Redemption through thy blood I have, 

And spotless love and peace." 

About this time he writes, " God keeps me in 
constant fear lest that, by any means, when I have 
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 
I spoke plainly to the women bands of their un- 
advisedness, their want of love, and not bearing 
one another's burdens. We found an immediate 
effect ; some were convinced they had thought too 
highly of themselves, and that their first love, 
like their first joy, was only a foretaste of that 
temper which continually rules in a new heart — 
they had not been attentive to the command, ' go 
on to perfection'." 



IMPRESSIONS. 97 

Mr. Wesley was fully set against fanatacism. 
He says, " The spirit of enthusiasm was breaking 
in upon many who charged their own imaginations 
on the word of God, and that not written, but 
impressed on their hearts. If these impressions 
be received as the rule of action, instead of the 
written word, I know nothing so wicked or absurd 
that we may fall into, and that without remedy." 

Again, " They may likewise imagine themselves 
to be influenced or directed by the Spirit when 
they are not. How many will impute things to the 
Spirit without any rational or Scriptural ground ? 
Such are they who imagine they either do or shall 
receive particular directions from God, not only 
in points of importance, but in things of no mo- 
ment in the most trifling circumstances of life, 
whereas, in these cases, God has given us our own 
reason for a guide, though never excluding the 
secret assistance of his Spirit. — ' To the law and 
the testimony ! — this is the general method of 
knowing what is the holy and acceptable will of 
God.'" 



98 , LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ESTABLISHING METHODISM EST THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

The power of God still attended the faithful 
preaching of the gospel. Many were struck 
under conviction, and hardly knew what struck 
them ; but they were laden with a sense of their 
sins, and of "the wrath to come," so that they 
could not rest till they were truly converted. A 
man who had been an atheist for twenty years, 
came to the Foundry to make sport of Wesley's 
meeting, but God arrested him in his sins, and 
there was no peace in his soul till his sins were 
pardoned. At Bristol the power of God came 
down so mightily, that " some wept aloud, some 
clapped their hands, some shouted, and the rest 
sang praise." In London, while a violent storm 
was raging, " their hearts danced for joy, praising 
the glorious God that maketh the thunder." 

Wesley spent three weeks in Oxford, in 1741, 
There were but few left of the Oxford Methodists. 
His friend Gambold told him that he need be 
under no fear respecting -his sermon before the 
University, which he was come to preach, for the 



RICHARD VINEY. 99 

authorities were utterly regardless of what he 
said. Here he met Kichard Viney, an Oxford 
Moravian minister, whose person, delivery, and 
bearing prevented his sermons from being accept- 
able to many ; yet he was elected president of 
the Society of Fetter Lane. 

Wesley preached his sermon before the Uni- 
versity at St. Mary's, to the largest congregation 
he had ever seen at Oxford. His text was, 
"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." 
1. What is implied in being almost, and 2. What 
in being altogether a Christian? To be almost a 
Christian implied: 1. Heathen honesty, not to 
defraud a fellow-man of his right, and, if possible, 
to owe no man anything. 2. It relates to truth, 
as w r ell as justice, hence it pertained to slander, 
or to calling God to witness to a lie. A heathen 
hates a liar. 3. It relates to the love or assistance 
that heathens expect of one another. Heathen 
honesty extends to all this. The second thing 
implied in being almost a Christian, is having the 
form of godliness, doing nothing which the gospel 
forbids. Not only avoiding all actual sin, as 
murder, adultery, fornication, or theft, but also 
every word or look that, either directly or 
indirectly, tends thereto. He is no reviler, no 
brawler, no scoffer, either at the faults or infirmi- 
ties of his neighbor. He labors and suffers to 



100 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

promote the good of others. He uses all the 
means of grace, including family and private 
prayer. And he does all this in sincerity, having 
an inward principle of religion. In this he told 
his own experience, for he says, "I did go thus 
for many years, as many of this place can testify, 
using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a 
conscience void of offence ; redeeming the time ; 
buying up every opportunity of doing good to all 
men ; yet my own conscience beareth me witness 
in the Holy Ghost, that all this time I was but 
almost a Christian. What is implied in being 
altogether a Christian? First, the love of God. 
Such a love as engrosses the whole heart, as takes 
up the affections, as fills the entire capacity of 
the soul. Second, love to our neighbors. Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. My neighbor 
is every man in the world, not excepting our 
enemies, or the enemies of God. Every Chris- 
tian loveth these also as himself. This love is 
long suffering, kind, not puffed up. All this 
must be grounded in faith, and this must be a 
faith that works by love." I have given but an 
outline of this excellent sermon, which must have 
had a salutary effect upon that large and intelli- 
gent audience. 

During the same year, while Wesley was in 
Wales, he was very sick ; yea, nigh unto death. 



Wesley's sickness. 101 

A dangerous fever followed, but prayer was 
offered, and a day of fasting was appointed at 
Brist »1. Yet for eight days he was near eternity. 
Prayer prevailed, and he entered again on his 
great itinerant labors. He says, "It was a 
strange thing for me, who have not kept my bed 
a day for five and thirty years. I was a prisoner 
for three weeks." While recovering from this, 
he read the life of Philip Henry, and of Mathew 
Henry, and other good books. 

Ty erman has well said : ' ' Great revivals of 
religion have generally been attended by copious 
productions of hymns of praise." Thus it was in 
the rise of Methodism. This was emphatically 
the great era of hymn writing in the English 
Church. Watts, Doddridge, and Erskine poured 
forth the joys of their converted hearts, and fur- 
nished lyric lines which have been used in sacred 
worship by millions. But of all the hymnists 
then living, the Wesleys were the most remark- 
able. A competent authority has estimated that 
during Wesley's life, there were published not less 
than six thousand six hundred hymns from the 
pen of Charles Wesley only. Having furnished 
their Societies with so many hymns, no wonder 
that they collected and furnished tunes. Their 
religion made them happy, and happiness always 
finds vent in song. The old Methodists were 



102 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

remarkable for their singing, because their hearts 
throbbed with joy unspeakable. Naturally the 
Wesley s were full of poetry ; and religion, so far 
from extinguishing the fire, fanned it into a holy 
flame. Their taste in music may be gathered 
from Wesley's direction to his preachers: "Suit 
the tunes to the words. Avoid complex tunes, 
which it is scarcely possible to sing with devotion. 
Sing no anthems. Do not suffer the people to 
sing too slow. In every Society let them learn to 
sing. Let the women sing their parts alone. 
Exhort every one in the congregation to sing, not 
one in ten only." 

Wesley was, indeed, a great itinerant preacher. 
In 1743, he spent about fourteen weeks in Lon- 
don, ten in Bristol and vicinity, thirteen in 
Newcastle, three in Cornwall, and twelve in the 
north of England. He travelled on horseback, 
reading as he rode along, always at home among 
the rich or the poor, in the city or in the country ; 
always about his Master's work. At Sandhutton, 
while baiting his horse, he found sitting in the 
chimney corner of the public house, a good- 
natured man, who was enjoying his grog with 
gusto. Wesley spoke to him about sacred things, 
having no suspicion that he was talking to the 
parish priest ; and yet, so it was ; but the reverend 
tippler did not boil over with offence, but begged 
his reprover to call upon him on his next visit. 



CLASS TICKETS. 103 

When he and John Downes reached Darlington 
both their horses lay down and died. The next 
month, as he was leaving London, the saddle 
slipped over the horse's neck, Wesley was thrown 
over the horse's head, and the horse ran back to 
Smithfield. He went to church at Exeter, and 
says : ' ' The sermon was quite innocent of mean- 
ing. The afternoon sermon was, I know not 
what, for I could not hear a single sentence." 
In leaving Epworth he had to cross the Trent in a 
ferry boat ; a terrible storm was raging : the 
cargo consisted of threo horses, and eight men 
and women. In the midst of the river, the side 
of the boat was under water, and the horses and 
men rolled one over another, while Wesley was 
laid in the bottom, pinned down with a large iron 
bar, and utterly unable to help himself. Pres- 
ently the horses jumped into the water, and the 
boat was lightened, and came safe to land. 

As many who joined the Societies were of a low 
order, no wonder if some of them proved 
unworthy characters, and had to be dismissed. 
Mr. Wesley devised a very quiet way of disposing 
of these undesirable members. He had a printed 
class ticket, with a passage of scripture printed 
upon it, with a blank space for the name of the 
member to whom it was given. These tickets 
were renewed quarterly, and are now in use in 



104 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

the Wesleyan Society in England. The reception 
of this ticket was a token of Christian fellowship, 
and the showing of this ticket admitted the party 
to the love feasts of those days. But the failure 
to receive this ticket was a proof that the fellow- 
ship was withdrawn, and you had no right to 
membership in the church, or to a place in the 
love feast. Some of these members before con- 
version were noted for " savage ignorance and all 
kinds of wickedness." Alas ! some fell back into 
sin. 

At Newcastle the people were fearfully convict- 
ed of sin, some felt as though a sword was run- 
ning through them. Others thought a great 
weight was upon them ; others could hardly 
breathe ; others felt that their bodies were being 
torn to pieces. Wesley says, "These symptoms 
I could no more impute to any natural causes, 
than to the Spirit of God. I can make no doubt 
but it was Satan tearing them, as they were com- 
ing to Christ, and hence proceeded these grievous 
cries, whereby he might design both to discredit 
the work of God and to affright fearful people 
from hearing that word whereby their souls might 
be saved. Charles Wesley said "I am more and 
more convinced it was a device of Satan to stop 
the course of the gospel." Many to whom they 
preached were fierce and threatening. They were 



CHURCH AT NEWCASTLE. 105 

children of the wicked One, who were held fast in 
Satan's chains. It is impossible to tell what 
would have become of this class of sinners, all 
over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, or 
what would have become of society in general, if 
God had not raised up Wesley and Whitefield 
and their fellow workers, to go out and proclaim 
the gospel of Christ from one end of the land to 
the other. 

Most of these people were poor and it was hard 
to raise money to build churches. Wesley had 
but very little when he began to build the church 
at Newcastle, but God raised up funds from time 
to time. A good Quaker friend sent him a £100, 
saying "I had a dream. I saw a shepherd with a 
great flock of sheep ; so many that he could not 
get them into the fold. Then it came to my mind 
that it must be John Wesley who wants to build 
a chapel at Newcastle, and I must help him.'* So 
she sent the money just in time. Chapels were 
built in many places and became centres of moral 
and spiritual good. 

It is astonishing how the powers of earth and 
hell were stirred in some places. Clergymen and 
people raved against God and his gospel, and the 
ministers that God had sent to proclaim it. For 
instance, at Walsal, while Charles Wesley was 
preaching on the steps of the market house, the 



106 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

mob was roaring and shouting and throwing stones 
incessantly, Many struck him, but not to hurt 
him. In another place they began pelting them 
with stones and dirt and smashed in the windows 
of the Methodist houses in Wednesbury, Darlas- 
tan and West Bromwich. Sometimes money was 
extorted and furniture broken, and even the 
magistrate swung his hat in derision when asked 
to quiet the rabble. Wesley writes, i 'I received 
a full account of the terrible riots in Staffordshire ; 
I was not surprised at all, after the advices they 
had received from the pulpit, as well as from the 
Episcopal chair ; the zealous high churchmen had 
rose and cut all that were Methodists in pieces.'* 

They went to Mary Turner's house at West 
Bromwich and hunted her and her two daughters 
with stones and stakes, threatened to knock them 
on the head and to bury them in a ditch. They 
came to John Bird's house, felled his daughter, 
snatched money from his wife, broke ten of his 
windows, besides destroying sash frames, shutters 
and chest of drawers. They took Humphrey 
Hands by the throat, swore they would be the 
death of him, gave him a great swing and hurled 
him on the ground. On rising, they struck him 
on the eye and again knocked him down ; then 
they smashed his windows and goods. At this 



DOINGS OF THE MOB. 107 

very time, about Wednesbury, more than eighty 
houses had their windows damaged, in many of 
which not three panes were left unbroken. 

John Wesley was at the house of Francis 
Wards. The mob beset the house, and cried : 
"Bring out the minister; we will have the 
minister ! " At Wesley's request, three of the 
most furious came into the house, and after the 
interchange of a few sentences, were perfectly 
appeased. With these men to clear the way, 
Wesley went out, and standing in the midst of 
the surging mob, asked what they wanted with 
him. Some said, "We want you to go with us 
to the justice." He replied, "That I will, with 
all my heart ;" and away they went. Before they 
had walked a mile, the night came on accompanied 
with heavy rain. The magistrate lived two miles 
away. Some pushed forward, and told Mr. Lane, 
the magistrate, that they were bringing John 
Wesley before his worship. " What have I to do 
with Wesley? take him back again." 

But when they insisted upon offering their com- 
plaint, their spokesman said: "To be plain, sir, 
if I must speak the truth, all the fault that I find 
with Wesley is that he preaches better than our 
parsons." Another said: "Sir, it is a downright 
shame ; he makes people rise at five o'clock in the 
morning to sing psalms. What advice would you 
give us?" "Go home, and be quiet," he replied. 



108 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Then they hurried Wesley to Walsal, to another 
magistrate, who refused to see them. Now they 
must trudge back. The Walsal mob met them, 
and they began to quarrel. Wesley was left 
alone in the hands of the victorious ruffians. 
One struck him with a club. Others tried to 
seize him by the collar, and pull him down. 
Another lifted his arm to strike, but on a sudden, 
let it fall, and only stroked his hair, saying, 
" What soft hair he has I" One man struck him 
on the breast, another on the mouth, so that the 
blood gushed out. He was dragged back to 
Walsal, and attempting to enter a house, the door 
of which was left open, he was seized by the hair 
of his head and hindered. He was then paraded 
through the street, from one end of Walsal to the 
other. Here he stood and asked, "What evil 
have I done ? Which of you have I wronged in 
word or deed?" Again they cried, " Bring him 
away ! " Wesley began to pray ; and now a man 
who just before headed the mob, turned and said, 
"Sir, I will spend my life for you; follow me 
and no one shall hurt a hair of your head." Two 
or three of his companions joined him, the mob 
parted, and these brave ruffians — one of them a 
prize-fighter — took Wesley and carried him 
through the crowd. He writes in his journal : 
"A little before ten o'clock, God brought me 



"BLACK COUNTRY." 109 

safe to Wednesbury, having lost only one flap of 
my waistcoat, and a little skin from one of my 
hands. From the beginning to the end I found 
the same presence of mind as if Iliad been sitting 
in my own study. But I took no thought for one 
moment before another. Only once it came into 
my mind that if they should throw me into the 
river, it would spoil the papers that were in my 
pocket. For myself, I did not doubt but I should 
swim across, having but a thin coat and a light 
pair of boots." 

Such was the beginning of Methodism in the 
"black country," so called because there are so 
many coal mines and blast furnaces, and so much 
smoke from burning coal into coke for those 
furnaces. Now Methodism flourishes in all that 
region, for I was born in Dudley, very near there, 
and after being in this country thirty years, I 
returned and found Methodist chapels in all parts 
of this "black country." There are Wesleyan 
Methodist, New Connection Methodist, and Prim- 
itive Methodist. They compose a great part of 
the spiritual power of that community. 

In five days after Wesley received this rough 
treatment, Charles Wesley boldly bearded the 
lion in his den, by preaching there. He found the 
poor Methodists "standing fast in one mind and 
spirit, in nothing terrified by their adversaries." 



110 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

He writes : " Never before was I in so primitive 
an assembly. We sang praises lustily, and with 
good courage ; and could all set our seal to the 
truth of the Lord's saying : ' Blessed are they 
that are persecuted for righteousness sake.' We 
assembled before day to sing hymns of praise to 
Christ, and as soon as it was light, I walked down 
the town, and preached boldly on Rev. 2 : 10. 
It was a glorious time, but souls were satisfied 
with marrow and fatness, and we longed for our 
Lord's coming, to confess us before His Father 
and His holy angels." 

All were struck with the meek behaviour of 
John Wesley and his crowd. Even the leader of 
the mob was converted and joined the Methodists. 
When Charles asked him what he thought of John 
Wesley he replied, "I think of him ! I thought 
he was a mon of God, and God was on his side, 
when so mony of us were not able to kill one 
mon." He always delighted to tell how God stayed 
his hands when he wanted to kill Wesley. He 
died in Birmingham — only a few miles from where 
he was converted — in 1789, at the age of eighty- 
five years just two years before John Wesley — 
what a reunion in the glory-land ! 

But Satan was not satisfied ; worse violence 
broke out in this region, if possible, the next year, 
led on by the Vicar of Weduesbury, whose name 



SHAMEFULLY ABUSED. Ill 

we will not write, as it ought to perish. He drew 
up a paper for the Methodists to sign or have 
their houses destroyed ; they were to promise that 
they would never read, or sing, or pray together, 
or hear the Methodist parsons any more. A few 
signed, but the mass stood firm. In less than a 
month Charles Wesley came, but this godless 
violence went on. Homes and furniture were 
destroyed and some of the members were abused 
in manners too shameful to record, but they met 
together morning and evening in great peace and 
love and nothing terrified by their adversaries. 

Cornwall is now a hot-bed of Methodism, but 
the time was when it was the hot-bed of sin and 
degredation ; when drinking, cock-fighting, bull- 
fighting and wrestling were common. It is said 
that one village was literally without a Bible or 
religious book except the book of common prayer, 
kept at a public house. In a fearful storm when 
they thought the world was coming to an end, 
they fled to the tavern in great consternation, that 
the tapster might read them a prayer. Having 
fallen upon their knees he seized a book and 
began to read about storms and shipwrecks and 
rafts, until his mistress found out that there was a 
mistake, and cried out "Tom, that's Eobinson 
Crusoe." "No," said Tom, "it is the prayer 
book, and on he went till he came to the descrip- 



112 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

tion of man Friday, when his mistress cried out, 
"I am certain you are reading Robinson Crusoe." 
" Well, well," said Tom, ' 'suppose I am, there 
are as good prayers in Robinson Crusoe as in any 
other book." So he read on till the storm abated. 
Thank God ! all were not as ignorant as this, 
but violence was the order of the day in Cornwall 
as in Staffordshire, when Methodism was finding 
its way in those parts. At St. Ives when Charles 
Wesley began to sing the mob beat a drum and 
shouted. At another time he had just named his 
text when they rushed upon his congregation and 
threatened to murder him. The windows and 
furniture were destroyed, yea, everything except 
the bare walls. Women were beaten and dragged 
about without mercy. They broke the town 
clerk's head and then quarrelled among them- 
selves. Two days after, the mob set on by the 
parish minister, fell upon the congregation and 
swore most horribly that they would be revenged 
on them for taking their people from the church 
and making such disturbance on the Sabbath. 
The next day they broke up the service with eggs 
and stones. At Poole the church warden shouted 
and hallooed, and put his hat to Charles Wesley's 
mouth to stop him from preaching. At length 
the mayor of St. Ives told Mr. Hoblin, the fire 



SOCIETY OF ST. IVES 113 

and fagot minister, that he would not be perjured to 
gratify any man's malice." He appointed twenty 
new constables to suppress the riot. 

Soon after this John Wesley, John Nelson and 
John Downs went to Cornwall ; the last two had 
but one horse, so they rode by turns. The 
Society of St. Ives increased to about one hundred 
and twenty. Nelson worked at his trade, as ma- 
son, part of the time and preached the other part. 
He and Wesley slept upon the floor ; Wesley had 
Nelson's top coat for a pillow and Nelson used 
Burkitt's notes on the New Testament, for his. 
One morning about three o'clock, after using this 
hard bed for a fortnight, Wesley turned over and 
jocosely said : "Brother Nelson, let us be of good 
cheer, for the skin is off but one side yet." 

They were continually preaching, yet it was 
seldom anyone asked them to eat or drink. Wes- 
ley said, "Brother Nelson, we ought to be thank- 
ful that there are plenty of blackberries, for this 
is the best country I ever saw for getting an 
appetite, but the worst for getting food." 

It took much of Wesley's time to visit the 
Societies that were under his care, in London, 
Bristol, Newcastle, Kings wood, Staffordshire and 
Cornwall. In Bristol he spoke to every member 
of the Society and rejoiced in their spiritual pros- 
perity. He did the same at Kings wood and said, 



114 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

"I cannot understand how any minister can give 
up his account with joy unless, as Ignatius says, 
he knows all his flock by name ; not overlooking 
the men servants and the maid servants. In London 
the two Wesleys examined the flock from morning 
till night, and also at Newcastle, till the work 
was completed. There was now in London 1950 
members and before the year 1743 closed they 
numbered 2200, all gathered in four years. 

There was a cry for more chapel room in Lon- 
don, when God provided them a chapel in West 
street, Sevendials, which was built sixty years 
ago by the French Protestants, being offered to 
Wesley, he opened it as a Methodist chapel, on 
Trinity Sunday. The first service lasted from 
ten o'clock till three. At five he preached at 
Great Gardens, then met the leaders, and then 
the bands. In London he and Charles officiated 
on Sunday mornings and evenings, read the lit- 
urgy and administered the sacraments. The com- 
munion services sometimes lasted five hours. 

Three months after, Wesley opened another 
chapel at Snow^fields, where the people were very 
wicked. Wesley thought it a means of grace to 
visit the people, especially the poor and the sick. 
Then he appointed as district officers in his 
church, "visitors of the sick and poor." Many 
lives were saved, and much suffering relieved 



PERSECUTION. 115 

thereby. The members of the church were to pay, 
if able, a penny a week, and a shilling a quarter 
for the support of the cause. Stewards were 
appointed to receive it. In London, at this time, 
this money amounted to about £8 per week. In all 
the societies the income for the year was about 
£800, out of which all chapel expenses and debts 
were to be paid, as well as relieving the sick 
and poor. 

Persecution showed itself again in various 
places. In Newcastle three parish ministers 
agreed to exclude from the communion all who 
would not cease to attend Wesley's services. In 
Cowbridge, when Wesley attempted to preach, the 
mob shouted, blasphemed, and threw showers of 
stones. At Bristol a clergyman preached against 
the upstart Methodists. When about to do the 
same in another church, he fell back against the 
pulpit door, and before long he expired. He 
committed the sin unto death. 1 John, 5 : 16. 
The people of Sheffield were ready to tear the 
Methodists in pieces. An officer presanted his 
sword at the breast of Charles Wesley. The 
meeting-house was ruthlessly demolished, while 
the mob was encouraged by the constable. The 
press was very abusive, and as virulent as ever; 
but Jesus stood by his faithful few, and the good 



116 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

work rolled on in increasing power on every side. 
God made "the wrath of his enemies to praise 
him." 

It is marvellous how such a busy man should 
find time to write. The fact is, his publications 
multiplied all the time. He abridged Bunyairs 
"Pilgrim's Progress." he wrote "Instructions for 
Children," "Thoughts on Marriage and Celibacy," 
"Practical Treatise on Christian Perfection," an 
abridgement ofWm. Law's book, and "An Earn- 
est Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion." 
In this he addressed the clergy as follows : " For 
what price will you preach eighteen or nineteen 
times a week, and this throughout the year? 
What shall I give you to travel seven or eight 
hundred miles, in all weathers, every two or three 
months ? For what salary will you abstain from 
all other diversions than the doing good and 
praising God? I am mistaken if you would 
not prefer strangling to such a life, even with 
thousands of gold and silver. 

I will now tell you my sense of these matters, 
whether you will hear or whether you will forbear, 
food and raiment I have ; such food as I choose 
to eat, and such raiment as I choose to put on ; I 
have a place where to lay my head. I have what 
is needful for life and godliness. I apprehend this 
is all the world can afford. The kings of the 



ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY. 117 

earth can give me no more, for as to gold and sil- 
ver I count it but dross ; I trample it under my feet ; 
I esteem it just as the mire of the streets ; I desire 
it not ; I seek it not ; I only fear lest any of it 
should cleave to me and I should not be able to 
shake it off before my spirit returns to God. I 
will take care, God being my helper, that none of 
the accursed thing shall be found in my tents 
when the Lord calleth me hence. Hear ye this 
all ye that have discovered the treasures which 
I am to leave behind me. If I leave behind me 
£10 above my debts and my books, or what may 
happen to be due on account of them, you and all 
mankind bear witness against me, that I lived and 
died a thief and a robber." 

Within twelve months of his death, he closed 
his cash book with the following words, written 
with a tremulous hand: "For eighty-six years 
I have kept my accounts exactly ; I will not 
attempt it any longer, being satisfied with the 
continual conviction that I save all I can, and 
give all I can ; that is, all 1 have." Blessed man of 
God ! would that his followers were more like him ! 
Dead to the world, and alive unto God. 



118 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE FIRST COHERENCE AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 

John Nelson was pressed for a soldier, and 
afterwards put in prison for reproving the pro- 
fanity of one of the officers. He was released by 
the influence of Lady Huntingdon, after having 
been marched about the country for three months. 
Wesley revolted from such scenes, and writes, "I 
found a natural wish, O for ease and a resting 
place ! Not yet, but eternity is at hand." Still 
he plans for more extended labors by writing let- 
ters to several clergymen and to his lay preachers 
to meet him in London and give him "their advice 
respecting the best method of carrying on the 
work of God." This was the first Methodist Con- 
ference. It met in London, June 25, 1744, and 
was held in the Foundry. Charles Wesley preached 
the first sermon. This conference was composed 
of the Wesleys ; John Hodges, rector of Wenvo, 
Wales ; Henry Piers, vicar of Buxley, a convert 
of Charles Wesley ; Samuel Taylor, vicar of Quin- 
ton ; John Meriton, a clergyman of the Isle of 



THE VITAL DOCTRINES. 119 

Man ; also of the following laymen, Thomas Max- 
field, Thomas Richards, John Bennet and John 
Downes. 

These godly men said, ' ' It is desired that every- 
thing be considered as in the presence of God." 
The following question was formally proposed : 
"How far does each agree to submit to the unan- 
imous judgment of the rest?" Mark well the 
answer, "In speculative things, each can only 
submit as far as his judgment shall be convinced ; 
in every practical point, so far as we can without 
wounding our several consciences." 

Having settled their rules and regulations, the 
conference adjourned for a season of prayer. After 
this they considered the great doctrines of Repent- 
ance, Faith, Justification, Sanctification, and the 
Witness of the Spirit. These were defined with 
great precision. No other tenets were discussed 
only as they related to these. These were the 
vital doctrines that those early ministers delighted 
to dwell upon ; they formed the staple of their 
preaching, and were one of the main causes of 
their success. Questions of discipline were then 
considered. They decided to obey the bishops of 
the Episcopal church in all things indifferent, and 
observe the canons of the church as far as they 
could with a safe conscience. The lay preachers 
were to preach so as, 1, To invite; 2, To con- 



120 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

vince; 3, To offer Christ; 4, To buildup; and 
do this in some measure in every sermon. In re- 
lation to the Episcopal church, they decided as 
their opinion, " We believe that the Methodists 
will either be thrust out, or will leaven the whole 
church." During the session the conference was 
received at the mansion of Lady Huntingdon. 
Wesley preached in this mansion from ' ' What 
hath God wrought?" After this Whitefield 
preached there, and thus that home became a 
house of God. 

" Can we have a seminary for laborers?" was 
among the questions considered at this conference, 
showing that this was deemed important, when 
possible. "If Gor* spare us till another confer- 
ence," was the answer. At the next conference 
they said, "Not till God gives us a tutor." At 
length the seminary was begun, and now they 
have three theological institutions in England. 
And we have three in America, besides about 100 
colleges and seminaries. They dispersed on Fri- 
day without making any provision for a future 
session. 

Methodism spread with great power in Corn- 
wall. Wesley writes from Gwennap, "Here the 
little one has become a thousand ; what an amaz- 
ing work has God wrought in one year ! The 
whole country is alarmed and gone after the sound 



THE POPULACE FOLLOW WESLEY. 121 

of the gospel. In vain do the pulpits ring of 
popery and enthusiasm, but preachers are daily 
pressed to new places and enabled to preach five 
or six times a day. Persecution is kept off till 
the seed takes root. Societies are springing up 
everywhere. The whole country is sensible of 
the change." The populace of the town followed 
Wesley for field preaching, covering all the green 
plain and hills of the natural amphitheatre of 
Gwennap. He spoke for three hours, and knew 
not when to stop. He could hardly get away from 
them, they were so hungry for the word of life. 
"The poor people were ready to eat them up, and 
sent them away with many hearty blessings. Our 
Lord rides on in triumph through this place." 

It is perfectly wonderful what power attended 
the preaching of the word in these times. Wes- 
ley's journals blaze out with flaming records of the 
lightning power that smote the sinners and made 
them cry out as though they were dropping into 
hell. Such cries for mercy and bewailing their 
sins has seldom been seen among men. Indeed, 
as I have said elsewhere, I believe the powers of 
hell were mightily disturbed, yea, that Satan him- 
self possessed some of these sinners, and had to 
be cast out by the power of the Lord Jesus. Near 
Bristol, after preaching, a woman came to him 
saying very abruptly, "I must speak with you, 



122 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

and will. I have sinned against light and love. 
I have sinned beyond forgiving. I have been 
cursing you in my heart, and blaspheming God 
ever since I came here. I am damned ; I know 
it ; I feel it ; I am in hell ; I have hell in my 
heart." Wesley invited two or three that had 
faith in God to join in prayer for her. Immedi- 
ately that horrid dread was taken away, and she 
began to see some dawnings of hope. 

While Wesley was preaching at Rose Green, a 
young woman sank down in a violent agony both 
of body and mind, as did five or six others, in the 
evening, at whose cries some were greatly offended. 
The same offence was given in Weaver's Hall by 
eight or nine others. 

All manner of characters came to Wesley. He 
tells of one as follows: "One came to me by 
whom I used to profit much. But her conversa- 
tion was now too high for me ; it was far above, 
out of my sight. My soul is sick of this sublime 
divinity. Let me think and speak as a little child. 
Let my religion be plain, artless, simple. Meek- 
ness, temperance, patience, faith and love, be these 
my highest gifts ; and let the highest words 
wherein I teach them, be those I learn from the 
book of God ! " 

At Long Lane, many came to disturb the meet- 
ing, and procured a woman to lead the way. The 



HE TREATS HIS OPPOSEKS WITH CONTEMPT. 123 

instant she broke out, Wesley says, "I turned 
upon her, and declared the love our Lord had for 
her soul. We then prayed that he would confirm 
the word of His grace. She was pricked to the 
heart, and shame covered her face. From her I 
turned to the rest, who melted away like water, 
and were as men who had no strength. But 
surely some of them shall find who is their Rock 
and their strong salvation." 

At another time he treated his opposers with 
silent contempt. When a company came in to 
disturb, he went on with his service. No one 
spoke to them and they soon went away in shame. 
After preaching at Kennington, where some 
opposed, he writes, "When I came home I found 
an innumerable mob round the door, who opened 
all their throats the moment they saw me. I de- 
sired my friends to go into the house, and then 
walking into the midst of the people, proclaimed 
4 the name of the Lord, gracious and merciful, and 
repenting him of the evil.' I told them they could 
not flee from the face of that great God, and there- 
fore besought them that we might all join together 
in crying to him for mercy. To this they readily 
agreed. I then commended them to his grace, 
and went undisturbed to the little company within." 

Wesley makes repeated reference to being healed 
in body by the prayer of faith, for he evidently 



124 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

had faith in God for his body as well as his soul. 
Hear him, "In the evening I explained the 33d 
chapter of Ezekiel, in applying which I was sud- 
denly seized with such a pain in my side that I 
could not speak. I knew my remedy, and imme- 
diately kneeled down. In a moment the pain was 
gone, and the voice of the Lord cried aloud to 
the sinners, 'Why will you die, O house of 
Israel?'" 

At another time he writes, "I was obliged to 
lie down most of the day, my bodily strength en- 
tirely failed ; yet in the evening my weakness was 
suspended, while I was calling sinners to repent- 
ance. But at our love feast that followed, beside 
the pain in my back and head and the fever which 
still continued upon me, just as I began to pray I 
was seized with a cough that I could hardly speak. 
At the same time came strongly into my mind, 
'These signs shall follow them that believe.' I 
called on Jesus aloud to increase my faith and to 
confirm 'the word of his grace.' While I was 
speaking, my pain vanished away, the fever left 
me, my bodily strength returned, and for many 
weeks I felt neither weakness nor pain ; unto thee, 
O Lord, do I give thanks." 

Yet he did not think that all could be healed, 
for he called on one of his members who was in 
great pain and drawing near to death. He said 



WESLEY LOVED HIS ENEMIES. 125 

nothing about faith healing, but asked, "Do you 
faint now you are chastened of him?" She said, 
"Oh, no, no, no; I faint not, I murmur not; I 
rejoice evermore." " But can you in everything 
give thanks?" " Yes, I do, I do." " God will 
make all your bed in your sickness." She cried 
out, "He does, he does ! I have nothing to desire ; 
he is ever with me, and I have nothing to do but 
to praise him." She breathed the same spirit of 
praise and soon after died in peace. 

While Wesley loved his enemies and often sub- 
mitted to many abuses from them, yet, at times, 
he felt that he must avail himself of the law of 
the land for his protection. So, when preaching 
at Long Lane, and the mob were breaking down 
the house over his head, having spoken to them 
and they became more violent, he said, "Let 
three or four calm men take hold of the foremost 
and charge a constable with him, that the law may 
take its course." They did so, and brought him 
into the house, cursing and blaspheming in a 
dreadful manner. I desired five or six to go with 
him to Justice Copeland, to whom they nakedly 
related the fact. He was immediately bound over 
for trial." Meanwhile Richard Smith, one of their 
ringleaders, was arrested by the power of the 
Holy Ghost. God struck him to the heart, also 
a woman who w r as speaking words not fit to be 



126 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

heard or repeated. They both came into the 
house and fell down before God. Disturbance 
ceased, and the prosecution was withdrawn. 

The work of God rolled on in various parts of 
Cornwall ; in Crowan, Wesley preached to two or 
three thousand miners who seemed to spring out 
of the earth. The storm of persecution lulled. 
Even at St. Ives, where they tore down the 
church, the saints were at rest and in prosperity, 
and welcomed him with grateful tears. At Mor- 
vah, he found 150 in the Society, and a chapel 
commenced. Hosts of rioters had become Meth- 
odists. He left Cornwall for Wales, where he 
preached several days. Returning by way of 
Bristol and Kingswood, and proclaiming the word 
daily, he came to Oxford, where he preached a 
profound sermon before the University, as Fellow 
of the College, upon "Scriptural Christianity." 
He concluded with a powerful appeal to the Uni- 
versity dignitaries. He writes, "I preached, I 
suppose, for the last time at St. Mary's. Be it 
so. I am now clear of the blood of these men. 
I have fully delivered my soul." After this they 
refused him the right to preach, and paid another 
to do it. At length he resigned his Fellowship. 
" Such was the treatment received from the Uni- 
versity to which he has given more historical im- 
portance than any other graduate of his own or 
subsequent times." 



HE IS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. 127 

Now he was fully free to preach the gospel 
among the poor and build up his Societies that 
now reached from Land's End to Newcastle. The 
latter part of the year he spent in the north, amid 
the trials of an unusual winter — turnpikes unknown 
and snows deep. He writes, ''Many a rough 
journey have I had before, but one like this I 
never had, between wind and hail, and ice and 
snow, and driving sleet and piercing cold ; but it 
is past, those days will return no more, and there- 
fore are as though they had never been." 

Mobs broke out in some places. Some of the 
lay preachers were driven from the field. One 
was pressed into the army. Another only escaped 
by running from street to street, and, entering a 
private house, was locked up in a closet till mid- 
night, and then passed the sentinels and escaped 
in a female dress. A warrant was got out for 
John Wesley himself, in Cornwall. He was taken 
into custody, but they were surprised to find him 
a regular clergyman and a finished gentleman. 
They escorted him to his inn, and never called for 
him again. That night he preached in his favorite 
place at Gwennap. Three gentlemen rode into 
the congregation, saying, " Seize him ! Seize him 
for the magistrates!" The people refused, but 
san£ a hymn. One of the horsemen seized Wes- 
ley and dragged him away. Finding he was not 



128 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

dealing with a fanatic, but a gentleman, he carried 
him back to the congregation. 

The next day, at Falmouth, the mob assailed 
the house where he was. The family escaped, 
leaving Wesley and a maid to brave the storm. 
Only a thin partition separated them. Wesley 
very coolly took down a large looking-glass which 
hung on the wall. The maid advised him to hide 
in a closet. But he stood just where he was. 
When the door was smashed in, Wesley stepped 
forth among them bareheaded and said, " Here I 
am. Which of you has anything to say to me? 
To which of you have I done any wrong ? To 
you? or you? or you? He continued speaking 
till he reached the middle of the street ; there he 
took his stand and addressed them as his neigh- 
bors and fellow-countrymen. Several of the 
crowd stepped out and said, "He shall speak; 
yes! yes!" He was conducted to a house, and 
left the town in a boat. 

On and on he travelled and preached amid vile 
persecution and great trials, through Cornwall 
and back again into Wales, where he had so much 
prosperity that he writes, "We are here in a new 
world, as it were, in peace and honor and abun- 
dance ; how soon should I melt away in such a 
sunshine, but the goodness of God suffers it not." 

John Nelson had been released from impress- 
ment and went forth everywhere preaching the 



JOHN NELSON RELEASED. 129 

word, with "a courage and natural adroitness 
which seldom failed to excite the admiration of 
the rabble." Some of his hearers fell to the ground 
and cried out, "Lord save or I perish !" He re- 
stored the society at Bristol. He was welcomed 
to York by converts and friends. His eloquence 
subdued the crowd at Nottingham Cross. At the 
close of his sermon, a military man came and 
begged for mercy. At another place a man rushed 
into the house where he was preaching and filled 
his mouth with dirt. He came near choking, but 
after cleaning his mouth he went on with his 
sermon. 

In the battle of Fontenoy, May 1, 1745, between 
the French and the English, Clement, one of the 
Methodist preachers, had his arm broken by a 
musket ball. They offered to carry him out of 
battle, but he said "No, I have an arm left to 
hold my sword ; I will not go yet." When an- 
other ball broke his other arm, he said, "I am as 
happy as I can be out of paradise." John Evans, 
another preacher, having both his legs shot off, 
was laid across a cannon to die, where, as long as 
he could speak, he was praising God and exhort- 
ing all around him. Haime, another preacher, 
believed that he should not die that day. After 
seven hours' hard fighting his horse was killed. 
An officer cried, ' ' Where is your God now ?" "Sir, 



130 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

he is here with me, and* will bring me out of this 
battle." Presently a cannon ball took off this offi- 
cer's head. Soon Haime's horse fell upon him. 
Someone said, "Haime is gone now." He re- 
plied, "He is not gone yet." He still walked on, 
praising God, and was delivered. He saj^s, 
" Surely I was in the fiery furnace, but it did not 
singe a hair of my head. The hotter the battle 
grew the more strength was given me ; I was as 
full of joy as I could contain." He met a fellow- 
Christian seeking water, and covered with blood, 
who said, "Brother Haime, I have got a sore 
wound." " Have you got Christ in your heart?" 
"I have, and have had him all this day. I have 
seen many good and glorious days, with much of 
God, but I never saw more of it than this day. 
Glory be to God for all his mercies ! " 

Methodism was introduced into Scotland by 
some of these pious soldiers. Whitefield met 
some of them in Scotland three years after this 
battle, and formed them into a society. Thomas 
Rankin, one of Wesley's early missionaries to 
America, formed a society of them at Dunbar, his 
native town in Scotland. At Mussel borough also 
a society was formed. Wesley found them pros- 
pering twelve years after. 

During this year, 1744, some of Wesley's peo- 
ple began to profess Christian perfection. He 






REJOICE IN THE WORK OF GOD. 131 

listened to them with much caution, and wrote, 
"I was with two persons who believe they are 
saved from all sin. Be it so or not, why should 
we not rejoice in the work of God so far as it is 
unquestionably wrought in them? For instance, 

I asked John C , ' Do you always pray? Do 

you rejoice evermore ? Do you in everything give 
thanks ; in loss, in pain, in sickness, weariness, 
disappointments? Do you desire nothing? Do 
you fear nothing ? Do you feel the love of God 
continually in your heart ? Have you a witness in 
whatever you speak or do, that it is pleasing to 
God?' If he can solemnly and deliberately an- 
swer in the affirmative, why do I not rejoice and 
praise God on his behalf? Perhaps, because I 
have an exceedingly complex idea of sanctifica- 
tion, or a sanctified man. And so, for fear he 
should not have attained all I include in that idea, 
I cannot rejoice in what he has attained." 

Just before Wesley died he wrote, "Four or 
five and forty years ago I had no distinct views of 
what the apostle meant by exhorting us to ' go on 
to perfection,' but several persons in London that 
I knew to be truly sincere desired to give me an 
account of their experience. It appeared exceed- 
ing strange, being different from anything that I 
had heard before. The next year two or three 
more persons at Bristol, and several at Kingswood, 



132 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

gave me exactly the same account of their experi- 
ence. A few years after, I desired all in London 
who made the same profession to come to me alto- 
gether at the Foundry. I desired that man of 
God, Thomas Walsh, to give us the meeting there. 
When we met, first one of us and then another 
asked them the most searching questions we could 
devise. They answered every one without hesita- 
tion and with the utmost simplicity, so that we 
were fully persuaded they did not deceive them- 
selves. From 1757 to 1759 their numbers multi- 
plied exceedingly. In London, Bristol, and in 
various parts of England and of Ireland, I care- 
fully examined most of these myself. In London 
alone I found 652 members of our society who 
were exceedingly clear in their experience, and of 
whose testimony I could see no reason to doubt. 
I believe no year has passed since that time, 
wherein God has not wrought the same work in 
many others, and every one of these, without a 
single exception, has declared that this deliver- 
ance from sin was instantaneous; that the change 
was wrought in a moment. Had half of these, or 
two-thirds, or one in twenty, declared it was grad- 
ually wrought in them, I should have believed this 
with regard to them, and thought that some were 
gradually sanctified and some instantaneously. 
But as I have not found in so large a space of 






BUSY WITH HIS PEX. 133 

time a single person speaking thus, I cannot but 
believe that sanctification is commonly, if not 
always, an instantaneous work." 

This is very candid, and ought to have weight 
with all sincere people. The same topic will come 
up again in these pages. 

Wesley was very busy with his pen this year. 
He published the sermon he preached at Oxford ; 
also an extract from his journal from 1739 to 
1741 ; also rules of the Band Societies. Before 
joining these bands they must answer affirmatively 
the following questions : " Have you the forgive- 
ness of sin ? Peace with God ? The witness of the 
Spirit ? Is the love of God shed abroad in your 
heart? Has no sin dominion over you? Do you 
desire to be told your faults ? Do you desire we 
should tell yon whatsoever we think, fear, or hear 
concerning you? Is it your desire and design on 
this and all other occasions to speak everything 
that is in your heart without exception, without 
disguise, and without reserve?'' 

It seems to me that all will agree in these days 
a number of these rules were neither wise nor 
profitable. No wonder they have passed out of 
use, for while we should watch over one another 
for our good, we should hardly find time to stop 
and tell all our thoughts or fears, or hearsays con- 
cerning each other. Yet, no doubt, these bands 



134 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

accomplished much good. Another of Wesley's 
publications was "Modern Christianity Exempli- 
fied at Wednesbury and other adjacent places." 
It closes with the following remarkable prayer : — 

"Lo, I come, if this soul and body may be use- 
ful to anything, to do thy will, O God. If it 
please thee to use the power thou hast over dust 
and ashes, here they are to suffer thy good pleas- 
ure. If thou pleasest to visit me with pain or 
dishonor, I will humble myself under it, and 
through thy grace be obedient unto death, even 
the death of the cross. Hereafter no man can 
take anything away from me ; no life, no honor, 
no estate ; since I am ready to lay them down so 
soon as I perceive thou requirest them at my 
hands. Nevertheless, O Father, if thou be will- 
ing, remove this cup from me ; but if not, thy 
will be done." 

This is, indeed, the prayer of entire consecra- 
tion of body, soul, spirit, estate and all to God 
for his service and for his glory. Such a conse- 
cration as this makes faith the easiest act of the 
soul. It leads to the very faith that brings the 
fulness of God into the soul of man. Who would 
say that Mr. Wesley lacked entire consecration ox- 
entire sanctification ? 

Wesley wrote or published many other books 
this year that I have not time or space to mention, 



A MARVELLOUS REVIVAL. 135 

except "The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of 
the Spirit of God. Extracted from Rev. Jonathan 
Edwards' book, of Northampton in New England." 

Tyreman justly observes, "By publishing this 
calm, pointed, argumentive treatise, Wesley made 
its sentiments his own, and from it the reader may 
easily infer what were Mr. Wesley's opinions re- 
specting the religious revival with which he and 
his cotemporaries were connected. 

This marvellous revival, that spread all over the 
greater part of the colony of Massachusetts, com- 
menced under the labors of Jonathan Edwards, m 
Northampton, a few months before John Wesley 
set sail for Georgia. Men literally cried for mercy. 
There were groanings and faintings ; transports 
and ecstacies ; zeal often more fervid than dis- 
creet. "Oft-times the people were wrought up 
into the highest transports of love, joy and admi- 
ration, and" had such views of the divine perfec- 
tions and the excellences of Christ, that for five 
or six hours together their souls reposed in a kind 
of heavenly elysium, until the body seemed to 
sink beneath the weight of divine discoveries and 
nature was deprived of all ability to stand or 
speak." Dr. Edwards said, "The New Jerusa- 
lem, in this respect, had begun to come down 
from heaven, and perhaps never were more of the 
predilections of heaven's glory given upon earth." 



136 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

John Wesley observes wisely, "It is no sign 
that the work is not divine because it is carried on 
in a very unusual and extraordinary manner. The 
Holy Spirit is sovereign in his operations. We 
ought not to limit God when he has not limited 
himself. Neither is a work to be judged by any 
effects on the bodies of men, such as tears, tremb- 
ling, groans, outcries, agonies or faintings ; for 
there is reason to believe that great outpourings 
of the Spirit, both in the prophetic and apostolic 
ages, were not wholly without these extraordinary 
effects. The same is true respecting religious 
commotion among the people, for this is the natu- 
ral result of such a work. ' Further, though many 
of the converts may be guilty of many impruden- 
cies and irregularities, neither is this the sign that 
the work is not of God. It was so in the apos- 
tolic churches, and this is not likely to cease while 
weakness is one of the elements of human charac- 
ter. There may be errors of judgment and some 
delusions of Satan intermixed with the revival, 
but that is not conclusive evidence that the work 
in general is not the work of the Holy Spirit. 
The work may be promoted by ministers strongly 
preaching the terrors of the law, but what of that ? 
If there really be a hell of dreadful and never- 
ending torments, ought not those exposed to it to 
be earnestly warned of their fearful danger ? For 



WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE MORE? 137 

ministers to preach of hell, and warn sinners to 
avoid it in a cold, careless, hesitating manner, is 
to contradict themselves and to defeat their own 
purposes. The manner in which the thing is said 
is, in such a case, more effectual than the words 
employed. It may be unreasonable to think of 
frightening a man to heaven, but it is not unreas- 
onable to endeavor to frighten him away from 
hell." 

Wesley in his ' ' Appeal to Men of Reason and 
Religion," who were in doubt whether this revival 
in England was of God, said, " You have all the 
proof of this you can reasonably expect or desire. 
That, in many places, abundance of notorious sin- 
ners are totally reformed. What would you have 
more ? What pretence can you have for doubting 
any longer ? " 



138 LIFE OF KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER Vin. 

WESLEY IN HIS VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR 

AND SUCCESS. 

All manner of controversies sprang up among 
the people, but John Wesley held on his way and 
contended earnestly for the truth as it is in Jesus. 
Mr. Church said he was an enthusiast in the high- 
est degree. He replied, "I am no more like Mr. 
Church's picture of an enthusiast than he is like a 
centaur. I make the word of God the rule of my 
life, and no more follow any secret impulse instead 
thereof, than I follow Mohammed or Confucius. 
I rest not on ecstacies at all, for I never feel them. 
I judge of my spiritual state by the improvement 
of my heart and the tenor of my life conjointly. 
I desire neither my dreams or my waking thoughts 
to be at all regarded, unless so far as they agree 
with the oracles of God." 

To his antinomian friend he wrote, "All that is 
really uncommon in your doctrine is a heap of 
absurdities, in most of which you grossly contra- 
dict yourselves as well as Scripture and common 
sense. In the meantime you boast and vapor as 



RULES FOR THE STEWARDS. 139 

if you were the men and wisdom should die with 
you. I pray God to humble you and show you 
all that is in your hearts." With the antinomians, 
preaching the law was an abomination. They 
would preach Christ in their peculiar way, but 
without one word either of holiness or good works. 

Wesley drafted rules for the stewards of his 
Societies as follows : "You are to be men full of 
the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, that you may do 
all things in a manner acceptable to God. You 
are continually to pray and endeavor that a holy 
harmony of soul may in all things subsist among 
you, that in every stage you may keep the unity 
of the Spirit in the bonds of peace." 

Wesley did a vast amount of good for the world 
by abridging many useful books so that the masses 
may read them. If he had copied all these books 
it would have taken much time, but he had a 
faculty of condensing them by drawing his pen 
across whatever he would have left out, and the 
rest was printed. 

One day as Wesley was riding along he over- 
took a serious-minded man with whom he con- 
versed, who soon told him what his opinions were, 
therefore he said nothing to contradict. Wesley 
avoided stating his own opinions, but at length 
was drawn into a controversy. The man raved 
and said, "You are rotten at heart. I expect you 



140 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

are one of John Wesley's followers." He replied, 
"No, I am not one of his followers, I am John 
Wesley himself." The poor man seemed like a 
man who had* trodden upon a snake, and would 
have run away, but Wesley being on the best 
horse kept up with him and tried to show him his 
heart. 

These were days of trouble in England. Charles 
Stuart attempted to regain the throne of England 
for his family. He had taken Edinburg and 
threatened England with invasion. The liberties 
of England and the Protestant faith were in dan- 
ger. Day after day the news was alarming. New- 
castle was in danger ; the people were placed 
under arms ; the walls were fortified and the gates 
blocked up. Many were alarmed for the Metho- 
dist chapel and society. But God was a wall of 
fire to them. Wesley preached day and night, 
and encouraged the loyalty of the people. He 
preached on wrestling Jacob, and the power of 
God fell upon the people. The people were 
greatly moved and cried mightily to God to de- 
liver his majesty King George and spare a sinful 
land a little longer. 

Of the general effect of the Methodist labors, 
Wesley wrote, "The grace of God that bringeth 
salvation, present salvation, from inward and out- 
ward sin, hath abounded of late years in such a 



JOHN NELSON. 141 

degree as neither we nor our fathers had known. 
How extensive is this change which has been 
wrought in the minds and lives of the people ! 
Know ye not that the sound is gone forth into all 
the land ; that there is scarcely a city or consider- 
able town to be found where some have not been 
roused out of the sleep of death. No stress has 
been laid upon anything as necessary to salvation 
but what is undeniably contained in the word of 
God. They contend for nothing trifling as if it 
was important, for nothing indifferent as if it were 
necessary, but for everj^thing in its own order." 

TKis shows the genius of Methodism, and that 
none may say that Wesley was illiberal, he added, 
'•If 3 r ou say 'Because you hold opinions which I 
cannot believe are true,' I answer, believe them 
true or false, I will not quarrel with you about 
any opinion, only see that your heart be right 
toward God. Give me an humble, gentle love of 
God and man, a man full of mercy and good 
fruits." 

None of the lay preachers had a purer spirit or 
a stronger body than John Nelson. He was a 
kind of a king among them, and was intensely 
hated and violently persecuted. He. was a stone- 
mason by trade, as we have said. He labored 
with good success in Bristol, and ii\ Somersetshire 
and Wiltshire. No man had such success in mas- 



142 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

tering hostilities. At Harborough he was assailed 
by nearly the whole town, men, women and chil- 
dren, who had determined to hang the first Meth- 
odist minister that came to their town. A son of 
a parish clergyman was the leader of the mob. A 
partially insane man was to put the rope round 
Nelsons neck, and a butcher stood ready to drag 
him to the river to drown. But while Nelson con- 
tinued to preach they could not break the spell of 
his eloquence. So they took six large hand-bells 
to drown his voice. When the madman came up 
to put on the rope, Nelson pushed it aside, and 
the maniac fell as though he had been knocked 
down with an axe. The butcher stood trembling 
with awe, and dared not touch him. A constable 
turned pale and led the minister away and helped 
him to mount his horse, and bade him go in the 
name of the Lord. Nelson exclaimed, "Oh, my 
God, hitherto thou hast helped me ! " 

Wesley and Nelson took sweet counsel together, 
reviewing the mercies of God and preparing for 
new labors, trials and triumphs. Wesley went on 
preaching to an immense crowd at Bristol, Nel- 
son's home, also at Manchester, where Nelson 
preached with power the first Methodist sermon 
about two years before. Then he went to Ply- 
mouth, where the mob assailed him again. The 
soldiers and rabble greeted him with huzzas. He 



SHAMEFULLY TREATED. 143 

rode into the midst of them, and conquered them 
as usual. He took the lieutenant by the hand 
and subdued him by a few words. "Sir," ex- 
claimed the soldier, "no man shall touch you; I 
will see you safe home. Stand off! Give back ! 
I will knock the first man down that touches him," 
and led him safe to his lodgings. The next day 
he preached on the common to a well-behaved 
congregation. 

Wesley continued his labors in Cornwall, Bris- 
tol and Wales, and then in Ireland. The word of 
God had free course and prevailed. Even in 
Wednesbury, in the ' ' Black Country," he preached 
to vast congregations. At Ep worth, the crowd 
was so great that Wesley had to preach in the 
open air at the Cross ; ' ' almost the whole town 
was there." 

Wesley barely escaped with his life from Bar- 
rowford, and in many places he was shamefully 
treated ; but the word of the Lord was not bound. 
The Holy Ghost accompanied the word, and "signs 
and wonders were wrought in the name of the 
Holy Child Jesus." Amid all the strife and labor, 
Wesley and his fellow-laborers had many sources 
of consolation. They had established their cause 
throughout the land. God, through their preach- 
ing, had changed the face of the communities in 
many places. Yea, the moral aspect of the nation 



144 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

was changed, for multitudes of the degraded popu- 
lation had been raised into civilized and religious 
life. " Tens of thousands had been rescued from 
virtual heathenism." Many marvelled at the in- 
stantaneous changes that were wrought upon the 
hearts and lives of the people. Southey is quite 
in earnest to criticise the suddenness of the won- 
ders. But he seemed to forget that "one day is 
with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day." " He that believeth shall be 
saved," and " He that believeth hath the witness 
in himself." "O ye of little faith," God's arm is 
not shortened. " Only believe." "All things 
are possible to him that believeth." And are pos- 
sible the moment he believes. 

Still these evangelists went on and made good 
their apostolic boast, for " the hand of the Lord 
was with them." They often began their services 
at five o'clock in the morning in winter or sum- 
mer, and travelled, mostly on horseback, at a rate 
that would more than circumnavigate the earth 
every five years. Charles Wesley was constantly 
composing those spiritual hymns that delight the 
Christian world to-day. He published several 
volumes of poems. John Wesley, though almost 
always on a journey, yet declared that few men 
enjoyed more solitude than he. He was con- 
stantly reading as he journeyed, not only books 



CONVERTS. 145 

on theology, but also of history, antiquities, and 
the classic poets. He was also exceedingly fruit- 
ful with his pen. He wrote books enough to keep 
some men busy for a lifetime. He assures us that 
ten thousand cares were no more inconvenience to 
him than so many hairs on his head, and his con- 
tinual changing intercourse with families on his 
route have become to them a welcome occasion, 
not only of religious instruction but of religious 
cheerfulness. A cotemporary of twenty years 
testifies that "Wesley's countenance as well as 
conversation expressed an habitual gayety of heart, 
which nothing but conscious virtue and innocence 
could have bestowed ; that he was in truth the 
most perfect specimen of moral happiness he had 
ever seen, and that his acquaintance with him 
taught him better than anything else he had seen, 
or heard, or read, except in the sacred volume, 
what a heaven upon earth is implied in the maturity 
of Christian piety. He was the presiding mind 
of dinner parties, as well by the good humor as 
the good sense of his conversation/' 

The tens of thousands of converts, many of 
them from the lowly walks of life, would naturally 
seek for religious reading, and this felt want 
opened the way for Methodism to start and foster 
the publication of a variety of religious books. 
Indeed there was an indefinite market for the 
writings of John Wesley. 



146 LITE OF EEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Wesley gave away $150,000 in the course of 
Ms life. At the same time he cut down his ex- 
penses to the lowest point, and when the commis- 
sioners of excise sent out circulars demanding the 
families to give an account of their taxable plate, 
and addressed him a letter saying, "We cannot 
doubt but you have plate for which you have hith- 
erto neglected to make an entry," he simply re- 
plied, "1 have two silver spoons at London, and 
two at Bristol ; this is all the plate I have at pres- 
ent, and I shall not buy any more while so many 
around me want bread." 

He was a good example of systematic benevo- 
lence. He remarked in early life that he had 
known but four men who had not declined in reli- 
gion by becoming wealthy. Later in life he cor- 
rected the remark and made no exception. There- 
fore he guarded scrupulously against this danger 
by giving away all he had except enough to carry 
on his business and meet his actual necessities. 

Watch-nights became common in these days. 
They began with some Kingswood colliers who 
had been used to spend their Saturday nights m 
sin. When they were converted they left the 
taverns and spent their time at the chapels, even 
to the midnight hour. Wesley was advised to 
put an end to this, but upon consideration he could 
see no reason for doing so. After years of expc- 



LAY PREACHERS. 147 

rience he wrote, " Exceeding great are the bless- 
ings we have found therein. It has generally been 
an exceedingly solemn season." For a time watch- 
nights were held monthly. 

As the Societies increased, the lay preachers 
were more and more called for, and questions 
came up time after time in the conferences respect- 
ing them. " How shall we try those who trust 
they are moved by the Holy Ghost and called of 
God to preach? First, do they know God as a 
pardoning God? Have they the love of God 
abiding in them? Do they desire and seek noth- 
ing but God? Are they holy in all manner of 
conversation? Second, have they gifts as well as 
grace for the work? Have they, in some toler- 
able degree, a clear, sound understanding? Have 
they a just conception of salvation by faith? and 
has God given them any degree of utterance? 
Do they speak justly, readily, clearly? Third, 
have they fruit? Are any truly convinced of sin, 
and converted to God by their preaching?" "As 
long as these three marks concur in any one, we 
believe" affirmed the conference, "that he is 
called of God to preach. These we receive as a 
sufficient proof that he is moved thereto by the 
Holy Ghost." 

When Wesley met his ministers in conference 
it was their first question how they should render 



148 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

the conference eminently an occasion of prayer, 
watching and self-denial ; always to set God before 
them, and spend the time between the sessions in 
devotions and in visiting the sick. 

The doctrine of entire sanctification they asserted 
without reserve, but with important cautions 
against its imprudent treatment in the pulpit or 
out. Would it be wise to testify of this great 
grace if we had it? "Not to them that know not 
God ; it would only provoke them to contradict 
or blaspheme ; nor to any without some particular 
reason, then they should avoid all appearance of 
boasting, and to speak more loudly and convinc- 
ingly by their lives than by their tongues." 

The whole country was mapped out into seven 
itinerant districts. Wales and Cornwall each 
constituted one. This was the first intimation of 
definite circuits, though some suppose that they 
existed before. This work went on till John 
Wesley claimed the whole world as his parish. 
The conference agreed to obey the rules and 
govenors of the Church whenever they could con- 
sistently, with the will of God, when ever they 
could not they would quietly obey God. For a 
long time Wesley Vas careful to avoid anything 
like a separation from the Church. His members, 
in general, went there for the sacrament. 



SYSTEMATIC PREACHING. 149 

Already Methodism had accomplished wonders 
in the world. Wonderful revivals had spread all 
over the United Kingdom, and along the Atlantic 
coast of America ; the latter, mainly through the 
labors of George Whitefield. The Churches in 
both countries had been greatly quickened. Lay 
preaching had been established, and hundreds of 
Societies had been formed. 

England, Wales and Ireland, were divided into 
circuits and supplied with systematic preaching 
by a ministerial force of about seventy men. It 
had fought its way through the bitterest opposi- 
tion of earth and hell. It had chapels, and meet- 
ing-houses, and parsonages. It had brought to 
the front in preaching and in experience the lead- 
ing doctrines of the Bible, Repentence, Conversion, 
the witness of the Spirit, and entire sanctification. 

"It had provided the first of a series of 
Acadamic institutions, which has since extended 
with its progress, and was contemplating a place 
of ministerial education, which has since been 
accomplished." 

All this great work was accomplished under the 
leadership of John Wesley, who stands before the 
ages as one of the mighty men of God, of whom 
Macauley writes, " John Wesley was a man whose 
eloquence and logical acuteness might have ren- 
dered him eminent in literature ; whose genius for 



150 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

government was not inferior to Richeleiu, who 
devoted all his powers to the highest good of his 
species." And whom Burkle styles, " The first of 
theological statesman." 

The modern apostle could not endure all the 
hardships and exposures without feeling their 
effect upon his body. In Nov. 1753, he was near 
the gates of death with consumption, in the fifty- 
first year of his age. He had taken one cold after 
another, and had labored when he was extremely 
weak. He had a settled pain in his left breast, a 
violent cough and a slow fever. In the night he 
was obliged to jump out of bed with cramp, and 
continued walking up and down the room, though 
it was a sharp frost. Still he preached the next 
day. The doctor ordered Mm to seek the country 
air, rest, drink asses' milk, and ride every day. 
Not knowing but he may die, he says, "to pre- 
vent a panegyric I wrote as follows : — 

HERE LIETH THE BODY 
OF 

JOHN WESLEY. 

A brand plucked out of the burning ; 

Who died of a consumption in the fifty-first year of his age, 

Not leaving, after his debts were paid, 

ten pounds behind him. 

Praying : 

1 God be merciful to me a sinner.' " 



AN EXPERIMENT. 151 

If he died, this inscription was to be placed 
upon his tombstone. Two days afterwards he 
writes, " I found no change for the better. The 
medicines that had helped me before now took no 
effect. About noon, the time that some of our 
brethren had set apart to join in prayer, a thought 
came into my mind to make an experiment. So 
I ordered some stone brimstone to be powdered, 
mixed with the white of an egg, and spread on 
brown paper, which I applied to my side. The 
pain ceased in five minutes, the fever left in half 
an hour, and from this hour I began to recover 
strength. The next day I was able to ride, which 
I continued to do every day till January 1. Nor 
did the weather hinder me once." 

January 4, he was at Bristol, drinking the water 
of the Hot well and lodging near by. In two 
days he began to write "Notes on the New Testa- 
ment," "A work," he says, "which I should 
scarce ever have attempted had I not been so ill 
as not to be able to travel or preach, and yet so 
well as to be able to read and write. I went on 
in a regular method, rising at my hour, and writ- 
ing from five to nine at night, except the time of 
riding, half an hour for each meal, and the hour 
between five and six in the evening." 

So that God who added fifteen years to the life 
of Hezekiah, in answer to prayer, added thirty- 



152 



LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



seven years to the life of John Wesley, years that 
were full of intense usefulness to that and to all 
succeeding generations. And, please observe, 
that when he was too weak to travel and preach, 
he filled up his life in writing books. 



ON THE WING. 153 



CHAPTER IX. 

WESLEY IN HIS MARRIED LTFE. 

Wesley was intensely active, ever on the wing, 
instant in season and out of season. Speaking to 
all he met about eternal things. On the land or 
on the sea, determined not to miss an appoint- 
ment. Pushing on through storm and flood, even 
when the roads were washed out and travelling 
was dangerous. Sometimes on horseback, some- 
times on foot, sometimes on horseback behind an- 
other man. He felt that he must go, and continue 
to go all seasons of the year, and to all the ends 
of his great parish, even when he married a wife 
he was true to his conviction of duty, namely, 
"That a minister could not give an account to 
God who failed to preach just as many sermons 
after he was married as before." 

And now we must consider the life of Wesley 
under the most severe trials that men are called 
to endure. For more than forty years he was 
unmarried. Charles advised him not to marry, 
because he thought his brother was able to do 
more good in a single life. For a long time John 



154 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

Wesley was in great sympathy with Grace Murray. 
She had travelled and labored with him, and was in 
some respects worthy of his hand and heart. But 
after she had promised to marry him, in his 
absence, she was persuaded by Charles Wesley to 
marry John Bennet, who was one of Wesley's 
workers. John Wesley was severely tried, but, 
with the patience of a saint, and with the coolness 
of a philosopher, he bore up under his great dis- 
appointment, and went on with his great life work. 
The true piety and manhood of John Wesley 
are manifest in this trial, when, after this great 
disappointment, he was introduced to Mr. Bennet 
he did not upbraid him, but kissed him. Still he 
was deeply afflicted, as the following letter shows, 
written to Mr. Bigg. "My Dear Brother: — 
Since I was six years old I never met with so 
severe a trial as for the past few days. For ten 
years God has been preparing a fellow-laborer for 
me, by a wonderful train of providences. Last 
year I was convinced of it, therefore, I delayed 
not, but, thought I had made all sure beyond a 
dangor of disappointment. But we were soon 
after torn asunder by a whirlwind. In a few 
months the storm was over ; I then used more pre- 
caution than before, and fondly told myself that 
the day of evil would return no more. But it 
soon returned. The waves rose again since I 



TIIE FATAL STROKE. 



155 



came out of London. I fasted and prayed, and 
strove all I could, but the sons of Zcruiah were too 
hard for me. The whole fought against me, but 
above all my own familiar friend. Then was the 
word fulfilled : < Son of man, behold ! I take from 
thee the desire of thine eyes at a stroke ; yet shalt 
thou not lament, neither shall thy tears run down.' 
The fatal irrevocable stroke was struck on Tues- 
day last. Yesterday I saw my friend (that was), 
and him to whom she is sacrificed. I believe you 
never saw such a scene. But why should a living 
man complain? a man for the punishment of his 

sins." 

Tyerman gives an elaborate account and sums 
up his judgment as follows : " John Wesley was 
a dupe, Grace Murray was a flirt, John Bennet 
was a cheat, and Charles Wesley was a sincere 
but irritated and impetuous and officious friend." 
It seems to me that this was one of the greatest 
deliverances that God wrought out for John 
Wesley. It is a wonder unto many what would 
have been the consequences upon Wesley, his 
ministers and his societies, if he had married this 
woman, toward whom many were prejudiced, and 
others considered her unfit for Wesley's wife; 
and some blame him for letting her travel with 
him. 

We would naturally suppose that after such a 
fiery trial Wesley would have to take a week or 



156 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

two to rest. But he showed that his fortitude was 
one of his greatest virtues, for the very next day 
he preached once at Bristol and twice at Leeds. 
Then he spent eight days at Newcastle, when 
there was a glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 
He writes, " We felt such a love to each other as 
we could not express ; such a spirit of supplica- 
tion, and such a glad acquiescence in all the 
providences of God, and confidence that he would 
withhold from us no good thing." Surely this is 
perfect love. It is the charity that " suffereth long 
and is kind." 

Some would suppose that Wesley would not try 
to marry again after this, but this is not so, for 
Feb. 18, 1751, about sixteen months after this 
trial, Wesley was married to Mrs. Vazel, a widow 
lady of great fortune, consisting of £10,000 
wholly secured to herself and four children. 

Two weeks before, he told Charles that he 
resolved to marry. Charles was thunderstruck. 
Wesley writes to his friend Mr. Perronet, "lam 
clearly persuaded that I ought to marry. For 
many years I remained single, because I believed I 
could be more useful in that state. And I praise 
God who enabled me to do so. I now as fully 
believe that, in my present circumstances, I might 
be more useful in a married state." Four days 
after this he met the single men of the London soci- 



HE LAMES HIMSELF. 157 

ety and showed them how, on many accounts, it 
was good for those who had received that gift from 
God to remain single, for the kingdom of 
heaven's sake, unless where a particular case 
might be an exception." 

He was intending to journey to the north, but 
slipped on London bridge and lamed himself. 
He then went to Mrs. Vazel's, on Threadneedle 
street, and spent seven days in prayer, reading 
and conversation, and writing a Hebrew grammar 
and Lessons for children. The next Sunday he 
was carried to the Foundry and preached while 
kneeling. The next day, lame as he was, he led 
Mrs. Vazel, a widow, seven years younger than 
himself, to the hymeneal altar, still unable to put 
his foot to the ground, but he preached the next 
evening, and also the next morning. 

In two weeks, while still unable to walk, he 
started to Bristol, leaving his bride at home. 
After holding his conference in that city, he 
returned to London, and six days after set out for 
Scotland. 

Many estimates are put upon the character of 
Mrs. Wesley. Henry Moore says, "She appeared 
to be truly pious, and was very agreeable in her 
person and manners. She conformed to every 
company, whether of the rich or of the poor ; and 
had a remarkable facility and propriety in address- 



158 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

ino: them concerning their true Interests . " Richard 
Watson says, "she was a woman of cultivated 
understanding, and she appeared to Mr. Wesley 
to possess every other qualification, which prom- 
ised to increase both his usefulness and his happi- 
ness." Thomas Jackson says, "Neither in under- 
standing nor in education was she worthy of the 
eminent man to whom she was united." Hampson 
says, "The connection was unfortunate, there 
never was a more preposterous union." Tyerman 
says "It was one of the greatest blunders he ever 
made. His marriage was ill-advised and ill- 
assorted. They married in haste and had leisure 
to repent. To the end of life both of them suffered 
a serious penalty." 

Mrs. Wesley's money soon became a trouble. 
Wesley writes, "She has many trials, but not one 
more than God knows to be profitable to her." 
She went with her husband, and she and her 
daughter endured the trials of a long journey to 
the north, yea, for about four years she was, in 
general, his travelling companion. But in the 
fall of that year there was a change. In Nov., 
1752, Vincent Perronit wrote as follows to Charles 
Wesley, "I am truly concerned that matters are 
in so melancholy a situation. I think the unhappy 
lady is most to be pitied, though the gentleman's 
case is mournful enough. Their sufferings proceed 



CHASTISEMENTS . 159 

from widely different causes. His are the visible 
chastisements of a loving Father ; hers, the imme- 
diate effects of an angry, bitter spirit ; and indeed, 
it is a sad consideration that, after so many months 
have elapsed, the same warmth and bitterness 
should remain ," 

Adam Clarke advised the ministers to marry 
women of good natural disposition, so that if they 
ever get low in religion they would have this good 
nature to fall back upon. Alas, Mrs. Wesley 
was not of this kind, for she had been petted by 
her former husband, and manifested a most unholy 
temper toward Mr. Wesley. 

In the latter part of the year 1755, Wesley 
went to Cornwall without her, and while there 
sent a packet of letters to Charles Perronit, which 
came into the hands of a jealous wife. She 
opened the packet and found a few lines directed 
to Mrs. Lefevre. She fell into a furious passion 
which led to many future storms. 

Wesley refers to his trials in the following to 
Sarah Ryan : "Your last letter was seasonable 
indeed. I was growing faint in mind. The being 
continually watched over for evil, the having every 
word I spoke, every action I did, watched, with 
no friendly eye ; the bearing a thousand little tart, 
unkind reflections, in return for the kindest words 
I could devise, 



160 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

4 Like drops of eating water on the marble, 
At length have worn my sinking spirits down.' 

yet I could not say, 'Take thy plague away 
from me,' but only, 'Let me be purified, not con- 
sumed.'" 

If, after months or years of such unkind treat- 
ment, he would return the kindest words that he 
could devise, he must have had Christian Perfec- 
tion, and was a noble exponent of it. 

She left him for awhile, but they were again 
united ; but in heart she seemed to hate him, for 
at one time she seized his letters and other papers, 
and put them into the hands of his enemies, that 
they might be printed as presumptive proofs of 
illicit connections. Then she interpolated letters 
that she had intercepted, so as to make them bear 
a bad construction, and then read them to differ- 
ent persons in private, for the purpose of defaming 
him. In one or two instances she published inter- 
polated or forged letters in the public prints. 
Frequently she would drive a hundred miles to 
observe who was in the carriage with her husband 
when he drove into a town. More than once she 
laid violent hands upon his person, and tore his 
hair. John Hampson says, "Once when I was 
in the north of Ireland, I went into a room, and 
found Mrs. Wesley foaming with rage. Her hus- 
band was on the floor, where she had been 



TORMENTED. 161 

trailing him by the hair of his head ; and she 
herself was still holding in her hand, venerable 
locks which she had plucked out by the roots. I 
felt as though I could have knocked the soul out 
of her." 

Southey says, "Fain would she have made him, 
like Marc Anthony, give up all for love ; and 
being disappointed in that hope, she tormented him 
in such a manner by her outrageous jealousy and 
abominable temper, that she deserves to be 
classed in a triad with Xantippe and the wife 
of Job." 

In the midst of all this, Wesley wrote her as 
follows : — 

' ' I cannot but add a few words : not by way of 
reproach, but of advice. God has used many 
means to curb your stubborn will, and break the 
impetuosity of your temper. He has given you a 
dutiful but sickly daughter ; He has taken away 
one of your sons ; another has been a grievous 
cross, as the third will probably be. He has suf- 
fered you to be defrauded of much money. He 
has chastened you with strong pain. Are you 
more humble, more gentle, more patient, more 
placable than you were? I fear quite the reverse. 
Oh ! bew r are, lest God give you up to your own 
heart's lusts, and let you follow your own 
imaginations ! 



162 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Under all these conflicts it might be an unspeak- 
able blessing, that you have a husband who knows 
your temper and can bear with it ; who, after you 
have tried him numberless ways, laid to his charge 
things that he knew not, robbed him, betrayed 
his confidence, revealed his secrets, given him a 
thousand treacherous wounds, purposely aspersed 
and murdered his character, and made it vour 
business to do so, under the poor pretense of 
vindicating your own character, who, I say, after 
all these provocations, is still willing to forgive 
you all, to overlook what is passed, a& if it had 
not been, and to receive you with open arms ; 
only not while you have a sword in your hand, 
with which you are continually striking at me, 
though you cannot hurt me. If, notwithstanding, 
you continue striking, what can I, what can all 
reasonable men think, but that either you are 
utterly out of your senses, or your eye is not 
single ; that you married me for my money, that, 
being disappointed, you were almost always out 
of humor, and that this laid you open to a thousand 
suspicions which once awakened, could sleep no 
more." 

"My dear Molly, let the time past suffice. As 
yet, the breach may be repaired. You have 
wronged me much, but not beyond forgiveness. 
I love you still, and am as clear from all other 



A LOVING LETTER. 163 

women as the day I was born. At length know 
me and know yourself. Your enemy I cannot be, 
but let me be your friend. Suspect me no more, 
asperse me no more, provoke me no more. Do 
not any longer contend for mastery, for power, 
money or praise. Be content to be a private, in- 
significant person, known and loved by God and 
me. Attempt no more to abridge me of my lib- 
erty, which I claim by the laws of God and man. 
Leave me to be governed by God and my own 
conscience. Then shall I govern you by gentle 
sway, and show that I do indeed love you, even 
as Christ the Church." 

A man who could write such a loving, manly, 
noble letter to such an abusive and unworthy wife, 
surely was in possession of perfect love. Yet 
this letter failed to do her good, for he wrote Jan. 
3,1771, " For what cause I know not, my wife 
set out for Newcastle purposing ' never to return.' 
JN~on earn; -non dimisi; non revocabo /" which 
means, I did not forsake her; I did not dismiss 
her ; I will not recall her. 

In May of the next -year she returned with him 
to Bristol, but did not remain. After tingeins 
and damaging the life of John Wesley for thirty 
years, she died at the age of seventy-one, Oct. 8, 
1781. Wesley was in the west of England at 
the time. She left her reduced fortune to her 



164 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

son ; to her husband she left only a ring. Wesley 
was not informed of her burial till a day or two 
afterward. 

Charles Wesley was intimate with the family, 
and he declares that nothing could surpass his 
brother's patience in bearing with his perverse and 
peevish spouse. Tyerman says, "She was evi- 
dently a woman of no education, beyond the abil- 
ity to read and write ; " he adds, "The truth is, 
John Wesley's wife was scarcely sane." Mr. 
Jackson writes, " Scores of documents in her 
handwriting attest the violence of her temper, 
and warrant the conclusion that there was in her 
a certain degree of mental unsoundness." This 
seems to be a charitable way to excuse, in a 
measure, the madness that came from an unholy 
and frequently indulged evil temper. No doubt 
God watched over the whole, for Wesley repeat- 
edly told Henry Moore, that he believed the Lord 
overruled this painful business for his good ; and 
that, if Mrs. Wesley had been a better wife, he 
misrht have been unfaithful in the great work to 
which God had called him, and might have sought 
too much to please her according to her own 
views. Let the dead bury the dead, we must go 
on with the history of one of the greatest men of 
his age, who was so great that even thirty years 
of married misery could not swerve him from his 



HIS FAITH IN GOD. 165 

life's great work. Some one has well said, "It 
is no mean proof of the genuine greatness of his 
character, that during the thirty years of this 
domestic wretchedness his public career never 
wavered, nor appeared to lose one jot of its amaz- 
ing energy." 

Wesley demonstrated his faith in God under 
these trials, when Charles Wesley urged him to 
stop the circulation of Mrs. Wesley's forged or 
interpolated letters and defend his character as a 
minister before the world. He replied : ' ' Brother, 
when I devoted to God my ease, my time, my 
life, did I except my reputation? No! Tell 
Sally I will take her to Canterbury to-morrow." 
Wesley went on his way, and God took care of 
his reputation and of those who tried to destroy it. 



166 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTEE X. 



WESLEY AS A PREACHER. 

John Wesley was pre-eminently a preacher. 
For more than sixty years he preached the gos- 
pel. He is supposed to have travelled 225,000 
miles, and to have preached twice a day for about 
sixty years; and, if so, he must have preached 
more than 43,000 times. Of course, all these 
sermons were not elaborate or profound, but many 
of them were both elaborate and profound. Many 
of them were preached to small congregations, at 
five o'clock in the morning, but many of them 
were preached to large congregations as at Gwen- 
nap, where he sometimes preached to fifteen thou- 
sand people. Some of them were short sermons, 
but some of them were long sermons. There 
were times when he had such a hold on the con- 
gregations that he held them spellbound for two 
or three hours. Harnpson, who often heard him 
preach, says, "His attitude in the pulpit was 
graceful and easy; his action calm and natural, 
yet pleasing and expressive ; his voice not loud, 



EXHAUSTED. 167 

but clear and manly ; his style neat, simple, per- 
spicuous, and admirably adapted to the capacity 
of his hearers. His discourses, in point of com- 
position, were extremely different on different oc- 
casions. We have frequently heard him when he 
was excellent, acute and ingenious in his observa- 
tions, accurate in his descriptions, and clear and 
pointed in his expositions. Not seldom have we 
found him the reverse. He preached too fre- 
quently, and the consequence was inevitable. On 
some occasions the man of sense and learning was 
totally obscured. He became flat and insipid. 
He often appeared in the pulpit when totally ex- 
hausted with labor and want of rest ; for, wherever 
he was, he made it a point to preach if he could 
stand upon his legs. He was often logical and 
convincing, and sometimes descripitive ; but he 
never soared in sublimity, or descended into the 
pathetic. His style was the calm, easy flow of 
the placid stream, gliding gently within its banks, 
withont the least ruffle or agitation upon its sur- 
face." 

Whitehead says, "Wesley's style was marked 
with brevity aud perspicuity. He never lost sight 
of the rule laid down by Horace — 

4 Concise your diction, let your sense be clear, 
Not with a weight of words fatigue the ear.' 

His words were pure, proper to the subject, and 

precise in their meaning." 



168 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Dr. Rigg, in his " Living Wesley," says, " He 
was, in simple truth, the most awakening and 
spiritually penetrative and powerful preacher of 
his age. Whitefield was more dramatic, but less 
intense ; more pictorial, but less close and forci- 
ble ; less incisive and conclusive. In Wesley's 
calmer discourses, lucid and engaging exposition 
laid the basis for close and searching application. 
In his more intense utterances, logic and passion 
were fused into a white heat of mingled argument, 
denunciation and appeal, often of the most per- 
sonal searchingness, often overwhelming in its 
vehement home-thrusts. Some idea of his most 
earnest preaching may be gained from his < Ap- 
peals to Men of Eeason and Keligion,' especially 
the latter portion of the first of these, and from 
his celebrated sermon on ' Free Grace.'" 

A careful reader of Wesley's journals will not 
fail to find many examples of the great power that 
God gave John Wesley over the hearts and minds 
of the masses to whom he preached from time to 
time. Oct. 7, 1739, lie writes, " Between five and 
six I called upon all that were present, about three 
thousand, at Stemley, on a little green near the 
town, to accept Christ as their only ' wisdom, 
righteousness, sanctification and redemption.' I 
was strengthened to speak as I never did before, 
and continued speaking nearly two hours, the 



AT CARDIFF. 1(59 

darkness of the night and the little lightning not 
lessening the number, but increasing the serious- 
ness of the hearers." Yet this was the fourth ser- 
mon that he preached that day. Even after this 
long sermon he held another service, in which he 
expounded Christ's Sermon on the Mount to a 
small, serious company at Ebley. Again, at Car- 
diff, his heart was so enlarged while preaching 
that he knew not how to give over, so that they 
continued the service for three hours. He preached 
on his father's tombstone for nearly three hours. 
At Bristol, on the anniversary of his conversion, 
he says, " I was constrained to continue the dis- 
course near an hour longer than usual. God 
poured out such a blessing that he knew not how 
to leave off. At Limerick, he began to preach at 
five, and kept the congregation till near seven, 
" hardly knowing how the time went." 

The venerable Rev. Thomas Jackson says, " No 
man was accustomed to address larger multitudes 
or with greater success, and it may be fairly ques- 
tioned whether any minister in modern ages has 
been instrumental in effecting a greater number of 
conversions. He possessed all the essential ele- 
ments of a great preacher, and in nothing was he 
inferior to his eminent friend and cotemporary, 
George Whitefield, except in voice and manner. 
In respect of matter, language and arrangement, 



170 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

his sermons were vastly superior to those of Mr. 
Whitefield. Those who judge Wesley's ministry 
from the sermons which he preached and published 
in the decline of life, greatly mistake his real 
character. Till he was enfeebled by age, his dis- 
courses were not at all remarkable for their 
brevity. They were often extended to a consid- 
erable length. Wesley, the preacher, was tethered 
by no lines of written preparation and verbal 
recollection ; he spoke with extraordinary power 
of utterance out of the fulness of his heart." 

The eternal God who raised him up for this 
great work gave him a power in preaching that 
ordinary preachers do not possess. In the midst 
of a mob he called '" for a chair ;" the winds were 
hushed and all was calm and still,; my heart was 
filled with love, my eyes with tears and my mouth 
with arguments. They were amazed ; they were 
ashamed ; they were melted down ; they devoured 
every word. 

This shows that he had a wonderful power over 
the people. "His words flowed in a direct, steady, 
powerful, sometimes a rapid stream, and every 
word told, because every word had its proper 
meaning. With all the fulness of utterance, the 
genuine eloquence, there was no tautology, no 
diffuseness of style, no dilution, close, logical, 
high verbal, adequate, philosophic culture had in 



SINNERS GROANING. 171 

the case of Wesley, laid the basis of clear, vivid, 
direct and copious extempore powers of speech, 
culture and discipline, such as had prepared Cicero 
for his oratorical successes, helped to make Wesley 
the powerful, persuasive, and, at times, the thrill- 
ing and electrifying preacher which he undoubtedly 
was. 

Think of this powerful preacher proclaiming 
the truth for eight evenings in succession, to vast 
multitudes, atEpworth, having been shut out of his 
father's church, he took his stand on his father's 
tomb, and with the inspiration of the Almighty, 
he proclaimed the gospel of Christ. The power 
of God attended the word, the Holy Ghost fell 
upon the people. He writes, "While I was speak- 
ing, several dropped down as dead ; and among 
the rest such a cry was heard, of sinners groaning 
for the righteousness of faith, as almost drowned 
my voice. I observed a gentleman there who was 
remarkable for not pretending to be of any religion 
at all. I was informed that he had not been at 
public worship for upward of thirty years. See- 
ing him stand as motionless as a statue, I asked 
him abruptly, 'Sir, are you a sinner?' He replied 
with deep and broken voice, 'Sinner enough;' and 
continued staring upward till his wife and a servant 
or two, who were all in tears, put him into the 
chaise and carried him home." Here the power 
of God and of man was displayed. 



172 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Let us take a look at the person of this dis- 
tinguished preacher as he stood in the pulpit. Mr. 
Hampson, an eye witness, says, "The figure of 
Mr. Wesley was remarkable. His stature was of 
the lowest ; his habit of body in every period of 
life, the reverse of corpulent, and expressive of 
strict temperance and continued exercise ; his step 
was firm, and his appearance till within a few 
years of his death, vigorous and muscular. His 
face, for an old man, was one of the finest we have 
seen. A clear smooth forehead, an aquiline nose, 
an eye the brightest and the most piercing that 
can be conceived, and a freshness of complexion 
scarcely ever to be found at his years, and impres- 
sive of most perfect health, conspired to render 
him a venerable and interesting figure. In his 
countenance and demeanor, there was a cheerful- 
ness mingled with gravity ; and a sprightliness 
which was the natural result of an unusual flow of 
spirits, and yet was accompanied with every mark 
of the most serene tranquility. His aspect, 
particularly in profile, had a strong character of 
acuteness of penetration. 

In dress he was a pattern of neatness and sim- 
plicity. A narrow plaited stock or necktie, a coat 
with small upright collar, no buckles at the knees, 
no silk or velvet on any part of his apparel, and 
a head as white as snow gave an idea of something 



NOT AFRAID. 173 

primitive and apostolical ; while an air of neatness 
and cleanliness was diffused over his whole person." 
Wesley was both a fearless and a faithful preacher. 
He was not afraid to declare the whole council of 
God whether men would bear or whether they 
would forbear. He could stand up and say "I 
call heaven and earth to witness this day. The 
trumpet has not given an uncertain sound for 
nearly fifty years last past. O God, thou know- 
est I have borne a clear and a faithful testimony ! 
In print, in preaching, in meeting the society, I 
have not shunned to declare the whole council of 
God ; I am therefore clear of the blood of those 
who will not hear. It lies upon their own heads." 
He was not afraid to preach as plainly as the 
Lord Jesus, and warn men to flee from the wrath 
to come. He just as firmty believed in hell as in 
heaven, and was quite sure that his hearers must 
spend their eternity in heaven or in hell. He 
declared at one time "Mine and your desert is 
hell, and it is mercy, free, undeserved mercy, that 
we are not now in unquenchable fire." The natural 
• man lies in the valley of the shadow of death. 
He sees not that he stands on the edge of the pit, 
therefore he fears it not ; he has not understanding 
enough to fear." At another time he said, "Art 
thou thoroughly convinced that thou deservest 
everlasting damnation ? Would God do thee any 



174 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

wrong if he commanded the earth to open and 
swallow thee up ? — if thou wert to go down into 
the pit, into the fire that never shall be quenched." 
At another time he said, "To say that ye cannot 
be born again, that there is no new birth but in 
baptism, is to seal your own damnation, to con- 
sign j^ou to hell, without help, without hope. 
Thousands do really believe that they have found 
a broad way which leadeth not to destruction ." 
He preached as though he saw men on the brink 
of ruin. He sought to tear away the false hopes 
of his hearers as follows : "If you had done no 
harm to any man, if you had abstained from all 
wilful sin ; if you had done all the good you could 
to all men, and constantly attended all the ord- 
inances of God, all this will not keep you from 
hell, except ye be born again." 

Mr. Hampson has told us of Wesley's head 
being "white as snow ;" this was in the later part 
of his life. The celebrated Kinnicutt heard Wes- 
ley preach his last sermon before his University, 
in 1744, when Wesley was thirty-seven years of 
age. He says "His black hair, quite smooth and 
parted very exactly, added to a peculiar compos- 
ure in his countenance, showed him to be an 
uncommon man. I think his discourse as to style 
and delivery, would have been uncommonly 
pleasing to others as well as to myself. He is 
allowed to be a man of great parts." 



EARNEST PURPOSE. 175 

The poet Cowper writes of Wesley in language 
that cannot be mistaken, as follows : — 

u Who, when occasion justified its use, 
Had wit as bright, as ready to produce. 
Could fetch the records from earlier age, 
Or from philosophy's enlightened page, 
His rich materials, and regale your ear 
With strains it was a privilege to hear. 
Yet, above all, his luxury supreme, 
And his chief glory was the gospel theme : 
There he was copious as old Greece or Eome, 
His happy eloquence seemed there at home ; 
Ambitious not to shine or to excel. 
But to treat justly what he loved so well." 

Dr. Rigg says, "In regard to Wesley in his 
early Oxford clays, calm, serene, methodical as 
Wesley was, there w T as a deep, steadfast fire of 
earnest purpose about him ; and notwithstanding 
the smallness of his stature, there was an elevation 
of character and of bearing visible to all with 
whom he had intercourse, which gave him a won- 
derful power of command, however quiet were his 
words, and however placid his deportment. But 
the extraordinary power of his preaching, while 
it owed something, no doubt, to this tone and 
presence of calm, unconscious authority, was due 
mainly, essentially, to the searching and impor- 
tunate closeness and fidelity with which he dealt 
with the consciences of his hearers, and the pas- 
sionate vehemence with which he urged and 



176 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

entreated them to turn to Christ and be saved. 
His words went with a sudden and startling shock 
straight home into the core of the guilty sinner's 
consciousness and heart." 

No wonder they often fell down before God, 
smitten by the sword of the Spirit, crying out in 
the bitterness of their soul, "God be merciful to 
us sinners ! " I respectfully commend all John 
Wesley's published sermons to my readers, 
especially the one on "The Original Nature, 
Property and Use of Law," his sermon on "Free 
Grace," and that on " Christian Perfection." By 
the time you have read these, you will want to 
read the rest. 

Rev. John M. Pike writes : — 

' ' Wesley's preaching had the accuracy of a 
scholar, the authority of an ambassador, the 
unction of a saint, the power of God. It was 
always searching, but often terrible and severe — 
except when addressed to congregations rich, 
respectable and polite." 

A friend said to him, after he had preached to a 
genteel audience from the words, " ye serpents, 
ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the 
damnation of hell ; " " such a sermon would have 
been suitable at Billingsgate, but it was highly 
improper here." Quaintly and significantly Wes- 
ley replied, "If I had been in Billingsgate, my 



A PROBLEM. 177 

text would have been, * Behold the Lamb of God, 
which taketh awaj^ the sin of the world.'' 

One day Wesley was passing Billingsgate mar- 
ket, whilst two of the women were quarrelling 
furiously. His companion wanted to pass on, but 
Wesley replied: " Stay, Sammy, stay and learn 
how to preach." 

Dr. Abel Stevens says: u As a preacher he 
remains a problem to us. It is at least difficult to 
explain, at this late day, the secret of his great 
power in the pulpit, aside from the divine influ- 
ence which is pledged to all faithful ministers, 
there must have been some peculiar power in his 
address which the records of the times have 
failed to describe ; his action was calm and natural, 
yet pleasing and expressive ; his voice not loud, 
but clear, agreeable, and masculine ; his style 
neat and perspicuous." 



178 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER XI. 



METHODISM IN SCOTLAND. 

George Whitefield did much to introduce Meth- 
odism into Scotland. He was invited there by 
Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, those remarkable 
men who had made a secession in the Scotch 
church. He made his first visit in 1741, and 
preached his first sermon in the seceding meeting- 
house at Dunfermline. 

His success in Scotland was greater than it had 
been in England. He writes, " Glory to God ! 
he is doing great things here. I walk in the con- 
tinual sunshine of his countenance. Congrega- 
tions consist of many thousands. Never did I see 
so many Bibles, nor people looking into them, 
when I am expounding, with such attention. 
Plenty of tears flow from the hearers' eyes. I 
preach twice daily, and expound at private houses 
at night. I am employed in speaking to souls in 
distress great part of the day. Every morning I 
have a constant levee of wounded souls, many of 
whom are quite slain by the law. At seven in 






THE LORD IS WITH US. 179 

the morning (this was at Edinburg) we have a 
lecture in the fields, attended not only by the com- 
mon people but also by persons of great rank. I 
have reason to believe that several of the latter 
are coming to Christ. I am only afraid lest the 
people should idolize the instrument, and not look 
enough at the glorious Jesus in whom alone I de- 
sire to glory. I walk continually in the comforts 
of the Holy Ghost ; the love of Christ quite strikes 
me dumb. O grace, grace ! let that be my song." 

Again he writes, "Yesterday I preached three 
times and lectured at night. This day Jesus has 
enabled me to preach seven times, once in the 
Church, twice in the girls' hospital, once in the 
park, once at the old people's hospital, and twice 
at a private house ; notwithstanding, I am now as 
fresh as when I rose this morning. It would de- 
light you to see the effects of the power of God. 
Both in the Church and park, the Lord is with us. 
The girls in the hospital were greatly affected, 
and so were the standers-by. The Holy Ghost 
seemed to come down like a rushing, mighty wind. 
The mourning of the people was like the weeping 
in the valley of Hadad-Rimmon. They appear 
more and more hungry. Every day I hear of 
some fresh good wrought by the power of God. 
I scarce know how to leave Scotland." 

Dr. Franklin says of George Whitefield, '-It 
would have been fortunate for his reputation if he 



180 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

had left no written works, as his talents then 
would have been estimated by the effects which 
they are known to have produced. By hearing 
him often I came to distinguish easily between 
sermons newly composed and those which had 
often been preached. His delivery of the latter 
was so improved by repetition, that every accent, 
every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was 
so perfectly well turned and well placed that, 
without being interested in the subject, one could 
not help being pleased with the discourse ; a 
pleasure of much the same kind with that received 
from an excellent piece of music. His elocution 
was perfect; he never stumbled at a word, or 
hesitated for want of one. Sometimes he would 
weep as though his heart would break, and say, 
'You blame me for weeping, but how can I help 
it when you will not weep for yourselves, though 
your immortal souls are on the brink of destruc- 
tion and you may never have another opportunity 
to be saved?' Sometimes he would depict the 
agonies of Christ : ' Look yonder ! What is it I 
see ? It is my agonizing Lord ! Hark ! hark ! do 
you not hear? Oh, my Father, if it be possible 
let this cup pass from me ! nevertheless, not my 
will but thine be done.'" 

David Hume said he was the most ingenious 
preacher he had ever heard. When he made his 



WIIITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND. 181 

second visit to Scotland, he was met on the shore 
at Leith by multitudes, weeping and blessing him. 
They followed his coach to Edinburg, pressing to 
welcome him when he alighted and to hold him in 
their arms. His preaching was wonderful. God 
did marvellous things by his labors. He writes, 
" I preached at two to a vast multitude, and at 
six and at nine. Such a commotion, surely, was 
never heard of, especially at eleven at night. For 
about an hour and a half there was such weeping, 
so many falling into deep distress and expressing 
it in various ways, as is inexpressible. The peo- 
ple seem to be slain by scores. They are carried 
off and come into the houses like soldiers w^ounded 
in battle. Scarce ever was such a sis;ht in Scot- 
land. There were, undoubtedly, upwards of 
20,000 persons. Two tents were set up, and the 
holy sacrament was administered in the fields. 
When I began to serve a table, the power of God 
was felt by numbers ; but the people crowded so 
upon me that I was obliged to desist and go to 
preach at one of the tents, whilst the ministers 
served the rest of the tables. On Monday morn- 
ing, I preached again to near as many, but such a 
universal stir I never saw before. The motion 
fled as swift as lightning from end to end of the 
auditorium. You might have seen thousands 
bathed in tears, some at the same time wringing 



182 LIFE OF KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 

their hands, others almost swooning, others cry- 
ing out for mercy." 

Whitefield made many other visits to Scotland, 
but formed no Societies, and while he was gone 
much of the good seed was scattered and lost. 

Wesley made his first visit to Scotland in April, 
1751, in company with Christopher Hopper who 
had returned with him from Ireland. We have 
already noticed that the Methodist dragoons from 
the regiment of John Haime, in Flanders, had 
formed Societies in Dunbar and Musselborough. 
Wesley was welcomed at the latter place. He 
preached while the people stood around him as 
statues, respectful but too cold for the ardor of 
Methodists. "Nevertheless," Wesley says, "the 
prejudice which the devil had been several years 
in planting was plucked up in an hour." He was 
invited to stay some time, with an offer of a larger 
place to preach in. Wesley had to leave, but 
Hopper returned and preached, and thus began a 
good work in Scotland. This lay evangelist after- 
wards preached with power at Edinburg, Dunbar, 
Leith, Dundee and Aberdeen. He wrote, "God 
blessed our work and raised up witnesses that he 
had sent us to the North Britons also." 

In the spring of 1753, Wesley went again to 
Scotland. He was courteously received by Mr. Gil- 
lies at Glasgow. He preached outside the town in 






THEY FILLED THE FIELD. 183 

the early morn, but the Scotch were not used to 
so early meetings ; but few were there ; but six 
times as many came to hear him in a tent in the 
afternoon. The power of God touched their 
hearts. The next day he preached in the kirk, 
by the courtesy of Mr. Gillies. The church would 
not hold the vast congregation, so he preached out 
of doors. More than a thousand listened to him 
in a shower of rain. The last sermon was heard 
by so great a crowd that they filled the field from 
side to side. But he found the apparent respect 
mostly indifference. They did not persecute and 
they would not follow. He said afterward, "They 
knoiv everything but they feel nothing." He was 
perplexed to know " why the hand of the Lord, 
who does nothing without a cause, was almost en- 
tirely stayed in Scotland. 4 ' 

He went again in 1757, and the kirk could not 
hold the people. Some brought their children to 
be baptized. At one time 2000 retired unable to 
hear. He formed the dragoon Methodists at Mus- 
selburg and Dunbar, and was encouraged to find 
them strong in faith. The men whose piety had 
been tried by the fires of the battle of Fontenoy, 
had introduced a living faith in both these places. 

Wesley writes, "We rode to Edinburg, one of 
the dirtiest cities I ever saw, not excepting Colen 
in Germany. We returned to Musselburg to din- 



184 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

ner, where we were followed by a party of gen- 
tlemen from Edinburg. I used great plainness of 
speech toward them, and they all received it in 
love." 

At another time he writes, "I found myself 
much out of order, till the flux stopped at once 
without any medicine. I was afraid I could not 
go round by Kelso. Vain fear ! God took care 
for this also. The wind that had been full east 
for several days, turned this morning full west, 
and blew just in our face, and about ten the clouds 
rose and kept us cool till we reached Kelso. 
When I preached I spared neither rich nor poor. 
I almost wondered at myself, not being usual 
with me to use so keen and cutting expressions. 
I believe many felt that, for all their form, they 
were but heathens still. Near as many were 
present the next day, to whom I spoke full as 
plain as before. Many looked at us as if they 
would look us through, but the shyness peculiar 
to this nation prevented them saying anything to 
me, good or bad, while I walked through them to 
our Inn. In the afternoon I came ,to Alnwick, 
and at six I preached in the court-house to a con- 
gregation of another spirit." 

The next day he writes, " At seven they gath- 
ered from all parts, and I was greatly refreshed 
among them. At five I was obliged to go into 



LIVING STOXES. 185 

the market-place. Oh, what a difference there is 
between these living stones and the dead, unfeel- 
ing multitudes in Scotland ! 

In 1779, Wesley wrote of one place in Scot- 
land : "In five years I found five members had 
been gained. What, then, have our preachers 
been doing all this time? They have taken great 
care not to speak too plain lest they should give 
offence." Hear that, ye ministers who have no 
success in your preaching ; are you afraid of the 
face of clay, and therefore barren and unfruitful? 
He goes on to tell of another reason: "When 
Mr. Brackenbury preached the old Methodist doc- 
trine, one of them said, * You must not preach 
such doctrine here. The doctrine of perfection is 
not calculated for the meridian of Edinburgh 
Waving, then, all other hinderances, is it any 
wonder that the work of God has not prospered 
here?" 

Alas, that there are so many meridians in our 
day where the distinctive doctrine of Methodism, 
Holiness, is neither preached nor practiced; no 
wonder there is no prosperity, for human nature 
and the grace of God are just the same now as 
then. But these preachers had preached four 
evenings in a week and on Sunday morning, yet 
there was no success because they feared the peo- 
ple and failed to preach on Christian Perfection. 



18G LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, in 1826, said, "I consider 
Methodism as having no hold of Scotland but in 
Glasgow and Edinburg." 

Whitefield said to Wesley, " You have no busi- 
ness in Scotland, for your principles are so well 
known that if you spoke like an angel none would 
hear you, and, if they did, you would have noth- 
ing to do but dispute with one and another from 
morning to night." 



VICTORIES. 187 



CHAPTER XII. 



WESLEY IN IRELAND. 

Some of the greatest victories of Methodism 
have been achieved in Ireland. Ireland refused 
the Reformation, and stubbornly adhered to the 
Church of Rome. This reacted against her both 
in civil, religious and in political life and tended 
to her continual degradation. 

August 9, 1747, Wesley reached Dublin. He 
went immediately to St. Mary's Church, and in 
the afternoon, by invitation he preached to "as 
gay and careless a congregation" as he had ever 
seen. Thomas Williams had already formed a 
Society in Dublin of nearly 300 members. Wes- 
ley examined them personally and found them 
strong in the faith, and docile and cordial in spirit. 
He pronounced the Irish people" the politest people 
lever saw." He exclaimed, "What a nation is 
this ! every man, woman and child, except a few 
of the vulgar, not only patiently, but gladly suffers 
the word of exhortation." First impressions are 



188 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WE8LEV. 

said to last the longest. Not so in this case, for 
he found some of the most bitter opposition on 
this "Green Isle." He had a fine bearing as he 
preached to crowds at the Society's chapel. Many- 
wealthy citizens were present. He thought he 
might have had a larger church in Dublin than in 
London if he could have stayed there long enough. 
He soon found out that the Irish need double care 
because their excessive cordiality exposed them to 
evil as well as to good impressions. After spend- 
ing fourteen days among them, he sailed for 
England. Charles arrived in Ireland in two weeks 
and spent about six months in that country. He 
found already, that a Papist mob had broken into 
the chapel and had stolen goods from a store-house 
which appertained thereto, and had made a bonfire 
of them and of the seats, window cases and 
pulpit, besides wounding the members of the Soci- 
ety, and threatened to murder all who met with 
them. A regular Irish riot which left the Mayor 
powerless. Wesley met the Society privately, 
but the rabble followed him through the streets 
with shouts of derision. 

John Cenwick, after preaching a week in Dub- 
lin and breasting the fearful persecution, writes, 
"Woe is me now, for my soul is wearied because 
of the murderers which the city is full of. The 
mob seldom parts without killing some one." A 



MURDERERS. 



189 



Methodist was knocked down, cut in several places 
and then thrown into a cellar, where stones were 
cast upon him. Another was so abused and 
stamped upon that he died. The murderers were 
tried and acquitted, as usual. A woman was 
beaten to death, and a constable, who was protect- 
ing Wesley, was knocked down and dragged on 
the earth till he died. Charles Wesley escaped 
without a wound, but he was chased through the 
streets ; but their firmness at last discouraged the 
Irish mob so that Wesley preached on the green 
to as fine a congregation as at the Foundry in Lon- 
don. The Holy Ghost was in the word for the 
prayers and sobs of the people often drowned his 
voice. Converts multiplied. Money was raised 
and a better place of worship was built. Wesley 
sometimes preached five times a day. 

At Athlone, Wesley was mobbed and struck 
with a stone. One of his companions was severe- 
ly wounded. The mob was aroused by a Catholic 
priest. Many Protestants stood by Wesley. At 
Phillipstown he was welcomed by a party of 
dragoons, who were all turned from darkness to 
light and then formed into a Methodist Society. 
He returned to Dublin and found the Society in- 
creasing. On the arrival of John Wesley, Charles 
returned to England with the blessing of hundreds 
if not thousands who had been blessed by his 



190 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

preaching. Methodism had found a footing in 
Ireland which she will never relinquish. 

John Wesley had a hearty welcome on his return. 
His voice could hardly be heard for the praises of 
the people. He found nearly 400 in the Societies. 
He preached daily, beginning at 5 o'clock in the 
morning. The mob had been conquered and peace 
prevailed. He went on from town to town con- 
firming the souls of the disciples. Sometimes 
most of the people were in tears ; but he adds, 
' 'The water spread too wide to be deep," for he 
found not one of them under very deep conviction. 
He asked one man how he had lived in times past. 
He spread abroad his hands and said with many 
tears, "Here I stand a giay-headed monster of all 
manner of wickedness." 

A vast crowd came to hear him at Athlone, but 
the priest came and drove them away before him 
like a flock of sheep. Failing to deeply impress 
them in ordinary preaching Wesley preached in 
the evening on a threatening text, which he seldom 
did. He writes "I preached on the terrors of the 
law in the strongest manner I was able ; still those 
who were ready to eat every word, do not appear 
to digest any part of it." Yet, soon a Society 
was formed. He says they were immeasurably 
loving people : his heart was touched with their 
affectionate simplicity. At Tullamore the people 



IRISH CONVERT. 191 

would not cover their heads in a hail-storm, while 
he preached, though he requested them to do so. 
After three months hard work in Ireland he re- 
turned to England. 

The saintly and sainted Thomas Walsh was con- 
verted in Limerick, under the labors of Robert 
Swindells, while preaching from "Come unto me 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I w^ill 
give you rest." Twenty years afterward, John 
Wesley wrote of his Irish convert, "I know a 
young man who is so thoroughly acquainted with 
the Bible that if he was questioned concerning 
any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek word 
in the New Testament, he would tell, after a brief 
pause, not only how often the one or the other 
occurred in the Bible, but also what it meant in 
every place. Such a master of Biblical knowledge 
I never saw before and I never expect to see again." 

"He lived as in another world from this time. 
A more saintly life than he exemplified from this 
time down to his death cannot be found in the 
records of Papal or Protestant piety." Southey 
justly says, "The Life of Thomas Walsh might 
indeed almost convince a Catholic that saints are 
to be found in other communions as well as in the 
Church of Rome." "He saw in Methodism a 
genuine reproduction of the apostolic Church and 
gave himself to study, that he might the better 



192 LIFE OP REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

promote its marvellous mission. Besides his 
native Irish tongue he mastered the English, Latin, 
Greek and Hebrew ; the latter was especially a 
sublime delight to him, as the tongue in which 
God himself had originally spoken to man. He 
rose at four in the morning for the remainder of 
his life, to study it and to read it, often upon his 
knees. He exclaims "O truly laudable and worthy 
study ! whereby a man is enabled to converse 
with God, with holy angels, with patriarchs and 
prophets and clearly unfold to men the mind of 
God from the language of God." He believed 
that a divine inspiration helped him about these 
sacred studies. Probably no man ever excelled 
him in the knowledge of the word of God. His 
memory was a concordance to the entire Bible." 

His studies were mixed with ejaculations of 
praise and supplication. " Turning his face to 
the wall, and lifting up his heart and countenance 
to heaven, with his arms clasped about his breast, 
he would stand some time before the Lord in 
solemn recollection, and again return to his work." 
His prayer was, "I fain would rest in Thee! I 
thirst for the divine life ; I pray for the Spirit of 
illumination ; I cast my soul upon Jesus Christ, 
the God of glory, and the Redeemer of the world. 
I desire to be conformable unto him, his friend, 
servant, disciple, and sacrifice." 



THOMAS WALSH. 193 

He walked thirty miles to his first appointment, 
which was in a barn, where he spoke with power, 
amid tears and contradictions. He went like a 
flame through Leinster and Connaught, preaching 
twice or thrice a day. His command of the Irish 
tongue gave him power over the Papists. 

Thomas Walsh continued to preach and flame 
like a seraph. He fasted and denied himself 
excessively. At twenty-five he looked like a 
man of forty, and would preach when he was not 
able. He wrote, "Thou knowest iny desire, thou 
knowest there has never been a saint upon earth 
whom I do not desire to resemble in doins: and 
suffering thy will." It is said that his public 
prayers were so fervent and arduous that it 
seemed as though the heavens were burst open, 
and God himself appeared in the congregation. 

Two years afterward Walsh died, after strug- 
gling for months with doubts and agonies that few 
ever suffer. He came almost to the extremity of 
mental anguish, if not despair of his salvation. 
"His great soiil lay thus, as it were, in ruins, and 
poured out many a heavy groan and speechless 
tear from an oppressed heart and dying body." 
Prayers were offered for him in many places, and 
God gave him the victory. Just before he died 
he requested to be left alone for a few minutes ' • to 
meditate a little." He remained in profound 



194 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

prayer, and self-recollection for some time, and 
then broke out in exclamation : " He is come! he 
is come! My beloved is mine and I am his — 
his forever!" and thus he departed to his eternal 
triumph. 

Duncan Wright was a Scotchman, but belonged 
to the army in Ireland. He was early convicted 
of his need of religion, but failing to find grace, 
he plunged into sin, and enlisted at the age of 
eighteen. His religious convictions followed him. 
He went with the soldiers to the Methodist meet- 
ings in Limerick. He spent nights in weeping, 
till the Lord brought him, in an instant, out of 
darkness into his marvellous light. For two 
years he had great trials, he felt that he must 
preach the gospel, but he resisted. But after a 
while Wesley sent him out as a traveling preacher. 
He traveled much in Ireland, and sometimes in 
company with Wesley. He also preached in 
Scotland, and occupied important circuits in Eng- 
land. He died at his post after thirty years of 
labor for Christ. 

Wesley gives the following advice to one of his 
Irish workers : " Dear Brother, — I shall now tell 
you the things that have been more or less on my 
mind : Be steadily serious. There is no country 
upon earth where this is more necessary than 
in Ireland, as you are generally encompassed 



BENEFACTIONS . 195 

with those who, with a little encouragement, 
w r ould laugh and trifle from morning till night. 
In every town visit all you can from house to 
house ; but on this and every other occasion, avoid 
all familiarity with women; this is deadly poison, 
both to them and you. You cannot be too wary 
in this respect. Be active, be diligent ; avoid all 
laziness, sloth, indolence ; fly from every danger, 
every appearance of it, else you will never be 
more than half a Christian." 

Wesley found the Irish more generous than the 
English. One gentleman gave the land and meet- 
ing house at Athlone. Thomas Jones gave 
between three and four hundred pounds toward 
the chapel at Cork. Mr. Lunell gave four hun- 
dred pounds toward the chapel at Dublin. 
Wesley writes, "I know no such benefactions 
among the Methodists in England." 



196 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER Xm. 



WESLEY ON CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

God had indeed wrought wonders among the 
people both in England, Ireland, Scotland, and 
Wales. Vast multitudes had been truly converted, 
and this great work, with many of them, had 
been wrought suddenly ; they had been justified 
freely from all their transgressions. They 
obtained the regeneration of their hearts by the 
power of the Holy Ghost ; they had the Spirit 
itself witnessing with their spirits that they were 
the children of God. They were heirs of God, 
joint heirs with Jesus Christ. 

All this was the natural result of the plain 
proclamation of God's eternal truth, which pro- 
duced a conviction of sin, a hatred to sin, and a 
genuine turning from sin to God. As men and 
women became established in this grace of regen- 
eration, they began to hunger and thirst after 
entire sanctification, after all the mind that was 
in Christ. Yet they "felt the flesh lusting 



CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. 197 

against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." 
They felt that they must "put off the old man, 
with his deeds, and put on the new man, which is 
created in righteousness and true holiness." 

Wesley had held the doctrine of Christian Per- 
fection since 1733, when he preached that sermon 
on the Circumcision of the heart. He had declared 
that "Holiness is the grand deposztum which God 
has given to the people called Methodists, and 
chiefly to propagate this, it appears God has 
raised them up." 

In 1760 the Holy Spirit was poured out in great 
power, and multitudes were entirely sanctified. 
Wesley writes, "Here began that glorious work 
of sanctification which had been nearly at a stand 
for twenty years; from time to time it spread, 
first through Yorkshire, then in London, and in 
many parts of England, and through various 
places in Ireland. And wherever the work of 
sanctification increased, the whole work of God 
increased in all its branches." 

Charles Wesley had been looking for a Method- 
ist day of Pentecost, when it would be as com- 
mon to hear that some one had been sanctified, as 
it was now to hear that they w^ere converted. In 
1762 John Wesley found about four hundred 
witnesses of sanctification in the London Societies. 
The revival was more remarkable in Dublin than 



198 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

in London. "After a deep conviction of inbred 
sin, they had been so filled with faith and love 
that sin vanished, and they found from that time, 
no pride, no anger, nor unbelief. They could 
rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in 
everything give thanks. Whether we call this 
the destruction or the suspension of sin, it is a 
glorious work of God ; such a work as, consider- 
ing both the depth and extent, we never saw in 
these kingdoms before. The peculiar work of 
the season has been the perfecting of the saints." 
These saints testified that "They felt no 
inward sin, and committed no outward sin. That 
they saw and loved God every moment ; and 
prayed, rejoiced and gave thanks evermore. That 
they had constantly as clear a witness from God 
of sanctification as they had of justification." 
Wesley says, "In this 1 do rejoice, and will 
rejoice, call it what you please. I would that 
thousands had experienced this much ; let them 
after experience as much more as God pleases." 
Again he writes, "Whether they are saved from 
sin or not, they are certainly full of faith and 
love, and peculiarly helpful to my soul." 

Newcastle was an exception to this revival of 
holiness, because they sought it by their works, 
and thought it was to come gradually, and never 
expected it to come in a moment, by simple faith, 



SCRIPTURAL EXPERIENCE. 199 

in the very same manner as they received justifi- 
cation. 

Wesley says, "I know many who love God 
with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. He 
is their one desire, their one delight, and they are 
continually happy in him ; they love their neigh- 
bor as themselves. They feel as sincere, fervent, 
constant desire for the happiness of every man, 
good or bad, friend or foe, as for their own. 
Their souls are continually streaming up to God 
in holy joy, prayer and praise. This is plain, 
sound, scriptural experience. And of this we 
have more and more living witnesses." 

Wesley went to London, and immediately began 
a course of sermons on Christian Perfection, and 
writes, "Many do daily experience an unspeak- 
able change. After being deeply convinced of 
inbred sin, particularly of pride, self-will, and 
unbelief, in a moment they feel all faith, all love ; 
no pride, no self-will, nor anger. I ascribe it to 
the Spirit of God." 

Wesley was very explicit in his teachings on 
this great doctrine and experience. He writes, 
"By perfection I mean the humble, gentle, 
patient love of God and man, ruling all our 
tempers, works, and actions, the whole heart and 
the whole life. It is such a love of God and our 
neighbors as implies deliverance from all sin." 



200 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

In speaking of those who were panting for 
purity, he writes, "Now they see all the hidden 
abominations of their hearts, the depths of pride, 
and self, and hell ; yet having the witness in them- 
selves that they are the children of God. So 
that it is possible to have pride, and self, and hell 
in a regenerate heart before it is wholly sanctified. 
Again he writes of the regenerate before they are 
sanctified : ' ' He frequently finds his will more 
or less exalting itself against the will of God. 
He wills something because it is pleasing to 
nature, which is not pleasing to God." This is 
inbred sin, which entire sanctification destroys. 
Wesley sums up the whole matter as follows: — 

' ' 1 . There is such a thing as Christian Perfec- 
tion, for it is taught in the Bible. 2. It is not as 
early as justification, for justified persons are to 
go on to perfection. 3. It is not as late as death, 
for St. Paul speaks of those who were ' already 
perfect.' 4 It is not absolute, for this perfection 
belongs neither to men nor to angels, but to God 
only. 5. It does not make a man infallible. 
No one is infallible while he remains in the body. 
6. Perfect love, 1 John 4: 18, This is the 
essence of it. Its properties, or inseparable fruits 
are, rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, 
and in every thing giving thanks. 7. It is im- 
provable. It is so far from lying in an indivisible 



INSTANTLY SANCTIFIED. 201 

point, from being incapable of increase, that one 
perfected in love may grow in grace far swifter 
than he did before. 8. It is amissible — capable 
of being lost ; but we were not thoroughly con- 
vinced of this for several years. 9. It is con- 
stantly preceded and followed by a gradual work. 
10. But is it in itself instantaneous or not? 
Some have been instantly sanctified, no one can 
deny this ; but in some, this change is not instan- 
taneous ; they did not perceive the instant when 
it was wrought. It is often difficult to perceive 
the instant in which life ceases. There must be a 
last moment of its existence, and the first moment 
of our deliverance from it. 11. Some say, 'This 
doctrine has been much abused.' So has the doc- 
trine of justification." He concludes as follows : 
"Therefore, all our preachers should make a 
point of preaching Christian Perfection to believ- 
ers constantly, strongly and explicitly. And all 
believers should mind this one thing, and con- 
tinually agonize for it." 

To one of his friends he wrote, "It is exceeding 
certain that God did give you the Second Bless- 
ing, properly so called. He delivered you from 
the root of bitterness, from inbred as well as 
actual sin." Again he writes," By salvation I 
mean a present deliverance from sin, a restoration 
of the soul to its primitive health, its original 



202 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

purity ; a recovery of the divine nature, a renewal 
of the soul after the image of God ; this implies 
all holy and heavenly tempers, and by consequence, 
all holy conversation." To a friend he writes, 
•*I want you to be all love. This is the perfection 
I believe and teach, and this perfection is consistent 
with a thousand nervous disorders." Again, "A 
person may be cleansed from all sinful tempers, 
and yet need the atoning blood for negligences 
and ignorances ; for both words and actions, as 
well as omissions, which are, in a sense, trans- 
gressions of the perfect law. I believe no one is 
clear of these till he lays down this corruptible 
body." 

Wesley advised the sanctified to watch against 
pride, fanaticism, antinomianism, the sins of 
omission, and against desiring anything but God. 
Against schism in the church. They must be 
exemplary in all things. He adds, "Where 
Christian Perfection is not strongly and explicitly 
preached, there is seldom any remarkable blessing 
from God, and consequently little addition to the 
Society, and little life in the members of it." 

This wonderful experience is obtained by faith, 
and faith is always in the present tense. There- 
fore we may expect it as we are. Wesley says, 
66 It is important to observe that there is an 
inseparable connection between these three points : 



Wesley's profession. 203 

expect it by faith, expect it as you are, and 
expect it now. To deny one of them is to deny 
them all." To expect it at death, or at some 
future time, is about the same as not expecting it 
at all. He observes that "We should never 
preach this perfection in a harsh spirit, but place 
it in the most amiable light, that it may excite 
hope, joy, and desire." 

john Wesley's profession of entire 
sanctification. 

l t In the early part of his career he wrote, 
"My brother and I read the Bible, saw inward 
and outward holiness therein, followed after it and 
incited others to do so. We saw that holiness 
comes by faith, and that we must be justified 
before we are sanctified ; but holiness was our 
point — inward and outward holiness. God then 
thrust us out to raise up a holy people." Even 
before this he writes, "In 1725 I met with Bishop 
Taylor's 'Kules for holy living and dying." I was 
struck particularly with the chapter on intention 
and felt a fixed intention to give myself to God. 
In this I was much confirmed soon after by the 
'Christian pattern' and longed to give my heart to 
God. This is just what I mean by perfection now. 
I sought after it from that very honr." — Journal, 
May, 1765. 



204 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

2. Two years afterward he read Law's Christian 
Perfection, and 'Serious Call/' when he resolved 
to be all devoted to God, in body, soul and spirit. 

In 1730, he writes, "I then saw, in a stronger 
light than ever before, that only one thing is need- 
ful, even faith that worketh by the love of God 
and man, all inward and outward holiness ; and I 
groaned to love God with all my heart and to 
serve Him with all my strength." Who will say 
that he did not obtain it? 

3. Jan. 1, 1733, he preached his wonderful 

sermon on the Circumcision of the heart whicjti he 

afterward declared contained all that he then 

taught concerning salvation from all sin, and loving 

God with an undivided heart. In 1735 he preached 

a sermon at Epworth in which he spoke with the 

utmost clearness, of having one design, one desire, 

one love and of pursuing the one end of life in all 

our words and actions. In 1738 he expressed his 

desires as follows : 

"O grant that nothing in my soul 
May dwell but thy pure love alone ! 

O may thy love possess me whole, 
My joy, my treasure, and my crown! 

Strange flames far from my heart remove, 
My every act, word, thought belove." 

Eev. John M. Pike has truly said, "Any state- 
ment of Wesley's experience that did not refer to 
Christian Perfection, or perfect love, would be 
incomplete." 



MEEKNESS OF MOSES. 205 

4. In the very nature of things, and in the 
natural order of events, John Wesley must have 
enjo3^ed entire sanctification. 1. Because he met 
the conditions on which it is obtained. 2. Because 
he never could have known so much about it, as 
to tell how to get it and how to keep it, and how 
to promote it in others. No man could teach it and 
preach it as he did for so many years unless he had 
the genuine experience himself. He writes, "It re- 
quires a great degree of watchfulness to retain the 
the perfect love of God, and one great means of 
retaining it is, frankly to declare what Grod has 
given you." How did he know this only by 
experience ? 3. He must have had it or he could 
not have been so successful in preaching this full- 
ness to others. 4. He bore the fruits of Christian 
perfection. He was "absolutely absorbed in the 
service of the Master for fifty or sixty years. He 
certainly had perfect love, and perfect self-denial 
for the good of others. He had an almost bound- 
less benevolence and perfect self-control and 
patience. He seemed almost to have the meekness 
of Moses. In the midst of the fiercest mobs and 
riots he was kept in perfect peace. 

5. Then he expressly professes this experience 
in the following hymn. It is the relation of his 
Christian experience in poetry and is exceedingly 
forcible. 



206 LITE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

How happy is the pilgrim's lot, 

How free from every anxious thought, 

From worldly hope and fear; 
Confined to neither court nor cell, 
His soul disdains on earth to dwell — 

He only sojourns here. 

This happiness in part is mine, 
Already saved from low design, 

From every creature love. 
Blest with the scorn of finite good, 
My soul is lighten'd of its load, 

And seeks the things above. 

The things eternal I pursue ; 
A happiness beyond the view 

Of those that basely pant 
For things by nature felt and seen ; 
Their honor, wealth, and pleasure mean 

I neither have nor want. 

I have no babes to hold me here ; 
But children more securely dear 

For mine I hnmbly claim : 
Better than daughters or than sons, 
Temples divine of living stones, 

Inscribed with Jesus r name. 

No foot of land do I possess ; 
No cottage in this wilderness ; 

A poor, wa3^faring man, 
I lodge awhile in tents below, 
Or gladly wander to and fro, 

Till I my Canaan gain. 

Nothing on earth I call my own ; 
A stranger to the world— unknown — 
I all their goods despise ; 



HOME IN HEAVEN. 207 

I trample on their whole delight, 
And seek a city out of sight, 
A city in the skies. 

There is my house and portion fair; 
My treasure and my heart are there, 

And my abiding home : 
For me my elder brethren stay, 
And angels beckon me away, 

And Jesus bids me come." 

A man saved from "every creature love" and 
"every low design," who "scorns finite good" and 
"seeks only the things above," who "neither has 
nor wants worldly honor, wealth or pleasure," who 
chooses to be a "poor wayfaring man without 
cottage or foot of land," who "tramples upon this 
world's delights" and who "has his heart and 
treasure and abiding home in heaven." Surely 
such a man has made the highest profession that a 
mortal can make this side of heaven itself. 

6. If John Wesley was not & possessor and a 
professor of Christian perfection, of which he 
preached and wrote so much and so effectively, 
then he was one of the greatest deceivers of his 
times. 

7. I will refer the reader to Dr. Coke's delin- 
eation of the character of John Wesley as given 
at the close of this book, and after a careful 
consideration of that estimate of this godly man, 
tell me, if you please, if the whole tenor of his 



208 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

words and works and motives were not such as 
would naturally flow from the heart of a man who 
was wholly sanctified to God. 

8. Who, but a man in the experience of perfect 
love could write as follows: "lain content with 
whatever entertainment I meet with, and my com- 
panions are always in good humor, because they are 
with me. This must be the spirit of all who take 
journeys with me ; if a dinner ill dressed, a hard 
bed, a poor room, a shower of rain or a dirty road 
will put them out of humor, it puts a burden upon 
me greater than all the rest put together. By the 
grace of God I never fret. I repine at nothing. 
I see God sitting upon his throne ruling all things 
well. 5 

9. At one time when in a large party of friends, 
the company was convulsed with laughter, in the 
momentary pause that followed, Wesley arose and 
lifting up his hand, in his peculiar manner, said, 

u Still may I walk as in thy sight, 

My strict observer see ; 
And thou by reverent love unite 

My childlike heart to thee. 
Still let me till my days are passed, 

At Jesus' feet abide ; 
So shall he lift me up at last, 

And seat me by his side." 

The Holy Spirit rested upon the company in a 
moment, as this holy man thus lifted up his holy 
hands " without wrath or doubting." 



FULL OF FAITH. 209 

10. Let the candid reader study carefully 
Wesley's journals and see how many immediate 
answers to prayers he obtained, for the recovery 
of his body, for the changing of the wind in a 
storm, for the cessation of rain, or the covering 
of the sun with a cloud to accommodate his out- 
door preaching, and in many other emergencies. 
He must have been full of faith and the Holy 
Ghost, or he could not have touched the throne 
of God in a moment and obtained immediate 
deliverance. 

11. It would almost be a reflection upon the 
Almighty to suppose that he raised up the people 
called Methodists ; whose duty it was to experience 
and proclaim this Christian Perfection to all the 
world, and let John Wesley be the chief instru- 
mentality ; the leading spirit and great expounder 
and defender of this doctrine and experience, and 
yet not have the experience in his own sonl. Nay, 
verily ! it cannot be. His whole life and spirit 
and word and work declare to all the world that 
he was "dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God. 

12. In April, 1764, Wesley writes about his 
preaching at Grimsby, "I explained at large the 
nature of Christian Perfection ; many who had 
doubted of it before were fully satisfied." May 
we not reasonably conclude that he was simply 
telling his own experience at the time? Is not 



210 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

this a fair inference that he spoke out of his own 
heart? It is, verily. 

13. Wesley must have had the experience of 
entire sanctification or he could not have been 
consistent with his conduct towards his preachers, 
nor honest before God. In 1766 he became so 
urgent about his ministers enjoying perfect love, 
that he instituted a list of questions which were 
proposed to all his ministers before they were 
received into the conference, as follows : "Have 
you faith in God ? Are you going on to perfection ? 
Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this 
life ? Are you groaning after it? Are you resolved 
to devote yourself wholly to God and his work? 

Who but a hypocrita could stand at the door of 
the conference and urge these questions upon all 
the ministers if he were not made perfect in love 

himself? 

14. Mr. Tyerman, in his excellent life of John 
Wesley, is very generous in his many and large 
references to Christian Perfection. But, it seems 
to me, he is not just or true to history when he 
says of this holy and venerable man of God, "He 
preached the doctrine (of Christian Perfection) 
most explicitly and strongly, especially after the 
period of which we are writing, but where is the 
proof that he ever experienced it." If Mr. Tyer- 
man still lives, let him read what evidence I have 



CRYING OUT. 211 

produced in this chapter. But he goes on to say, 
"It is an important fact, that, so far as there is 
evidence to show, to the day of his death, he 
never made the same profession as hundreds of 
his people did." Surely a certain minister is 
right when he says, "The life of John Wesley, by 
Mr. Tyerman, was' written in an atmosphere quite 
distant from perfect love." Of course Mr. Tyer- 
man means to say that Mr. Wesley did not profess 
Christian Perfection even to the day of his death. 
Then the Lord raised John Wesley and thrust 
him out to raise up a holy people, and kept him 
in the front of this holy work and enabled him to 
write and preach on this subject as no man ever 
did ; yet he never had the experience himself. 
No, beloved, this cannot be ! 

15. We have shown that as early as 1730, 
Wesley was crying out for all inward and outward 
holiness, and he groaned to love God with all his 
heart, and to serve him with all his strength ; and 
this was the drift and tenor of the sixty-one 
remaining years of his life. He walked with God 
in "the way of holiness," and of perfect love to 
God and man. 

16. Wesley wrote to his father, "I conclude 
that when I am most holy myself, then I could 
most promote holiness in others." Then as he 
was always successfully promoting holiness in 



212 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

others by his life and preaching, then he must 
have been holy himself. 

17. Dr. Whitehead says, "He studied to be 
gentle, yet vigilant and faithful to all. He pos- 
sessed himself in patience and preserved himself 
unprovoked, nay, even unruffled in the midst of 
persecution, reproach and all manner of abuse of 
his person and name." Then he did possess 
Christian Perfection and demonstrated it to the 
world. 

18. I have just discovered that Mr. Tyerman 
quotes a part of the above hymn by John Wesley, 
and says, "The whole hymn is strikingly descrip- 
tive of Wesley's own condition and experience." 
Still he contends that Wesley never professed 
entire sanctification. How strange ! It is strange 
also that Mr. Tyerman did not quote the whole 
hj^mn, but left out the three stanzas that are the 
most expressive of the fulness of God in the soul, 
namely, the three first stanzas that I have quoted, 
I am astonished at this, as Mr. Tyerman is the 
most elaborate writer of Mr. Wesley's life and 
as he claims in his Preface that "Nothing likely to 
be of general interest has been withheld. What- 
ever else the work may be, it is honest" We 
answer, it is certainly of general interest that the 
millions of Methodists of this, and of all coming 
generations, should know the height and depth of 



LOVE STORIES. 213 

the religious experience of their venerable founder 
and it would certainly have been honest to have 
quoted the hymn just as Wesley wrote it. Why 
this was not done it is not forme to say. I only 
state the facts. Charity would say, "It was for 
want of room." But there is no plea on this 
account when he fills so very many of his pages 
with what may be called "the love stories" con- 
nected with the life of Wesley, which, to me, are 
almost sickening in their detail; and this remark 
applies just as much to Dr. Riggs' book, "The 
Living Wesley," as to Mr. Tyerman's extensive 
works. It seems to me almost like catering to 
the corrupt taste of this generation and also like 
magnifying the weaknesses, rather than the excel- 
lences of this pre-eminently godly man. Dr. Riggs 
has produced a most excellent book from which I 
am delighted to quote in this book. But, in all 
candor I would ask why forty-two pages, one- 
sixth of that book, after the Introduction, should 
be given to the details of two love stories. In the 
language of Dr. Riggs to Mr. Tyerman I would 
say, "If he (Dr. Riggs) were, in future editions 
to spare us needless details of the sort we have 
indicated, he might save space for such statements, 
reflections and general views, here and there, as 
would more distinctly represent Wesley's character, 
position and motives, than has now been done 
even in these — this — volume." 



214 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

19. See the perfection of John Wesley's love 
and patience in the following : At Dewsbury, a 
person full of rage, pressed through the throng, 
and struck him violently on the face. Weslej 7 ', 
with tears in his eyes, recollecting the precept of 
Jesus, turned to him the other cheek. His assail- 
ant was awed by this spirit of Christ, and slunk 
back into the crowd. Who but the possessor of 
Christian Perfection could act in this manner? 
Who? 

The following question was submitted to Dr. 
James M. Buckley : — 

" Have we any record of Mr. Wesley professing 
to be entirely sanctified ; and if so, where may it 
be found?" Dr. Buckley answers, in the Chris- 
tian Advocate: "This question reappears from 
time to time, as though of great importance. We 
know of no record of his explicitly professing, or 
saying in so many words, ' I am entirely sancti- 
fied ;' no record of uttering words to that effect. 
But we have no more doubt that he habitually 
professed it than that he professed conversion. 
The relation John Wesley sustained to his fol- 
lowers, and to this doctrine, makes it certain that 
he professed it, and almost certain that there 
would be no special record of it. 

1. All Wesley's followers assumed him to be 
what he urged them to be. Before they were in 



ENTIRE SAXCTIFICATIOX. 215 

a situation to make records, his position was so 
fixed that to record his descriptions of this state 
would have been unthought of. 

2. He preached entire sanctification, and urged 
it upon his follows. 

3. He defended its attainability in many pub- 
lic controversies. 

4. He urged and defended the profession of it, 
under certain conditions and safeguards ; made 
lists of professors ; told men they had lost it 
because they did not profess ; and said and did so 
many things, only to be explained upon the 
assumption that he professed to enjoy the blessing, 
that no other opinion can support it," 



216 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



JOHN WESLEY AND JOHN FLETCHER. 

In carefully reading the lives of John Wesley 
and of John Fletcher, it seems to me that in no 
age since St. John the divine have lived two such 
men as these. Fletcher stood in the same relation 
to John Wesley as Melancthon did to Martin 
Luther, that of a defender. When Wesley re- 
nounced Calvinism, and showed up its awful hor- 
rors, his enemies came down upon him as though 
they would swallow him up. He made a bold 
defence himself and wielded a vigorous war, but 
it took the powerful, pungent pen of John Fletcher 
to disarm his enemies on the right and on the left. 
I have neither time nor space to enter largely into 
this discussion, but it is due to the reader that we 
consider these two illustrious men and their rela- 
tion to one another. 

They were closely attached to each other. 
Fletcher says, after travelling with Wesley through 
three counties, "I find it good to be with this ex- 



A HELPMEET. 217 

traprdinary servant of God. I think his diligence 
and wisdom are matchless. It is a good school 
for me, only I am too old a scholar to make any 
proficiency." Wesley in his many labors had 
preached so much, that at Snowfields, in 1757, 
his strength failed. He prayed for some one to 
come and help him. Just then, John Fletcher, 
who had just been ordained a priest, came to his 
assistance. Wesley wrote, "How wonderful are 
the ways of God ! When my bodily strength 
failed, and no clergyman in England was able and 
willing to assist me, he sent me help from the 
mountains of Switzerland, and a helpmeet for me 
in every respect ! Where could I have found 
such another?" Fletcher thus came as an anircl 
of mercy, and never left Wesley till the angels 
came and carried him to Paradise, twenty-eight 
years afterward. During all this time this man 
of the deepest piety was of invaluable service to 
John Wesley in particular, and to Methodism ia 
general. John Fletcher was born at Xyons, 
among the mountains of Switzerland, Sept. 12, 
1729, so that he was twenty-six years younger 
than John Wesley. Fletcher refused to become 
a pastor of a rich Church at Dunham, because 
they paid too much money (£400 a year) and be- 
cause they required too little labor. Noble ex- 
ample ! He settled in the poor but populous 



218 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

parish of Madeley, where poverty had its habita- 
tion, and piety soon began to abound. Here he 
lived at the feet of Jesus, a life of entire devo- 
tion. Here he wrote those immortal Checks to 
Antinomianism. Here he exhibited such a dead- 
ness to the world, and such a living unto God, 
as this world has seldom seen. I hope to live 
long enough to write his life and to enjoy more of 
the same fulness of God. 

Fletcher was appointed president of the theo- 
logical school of Lady Huntington at Trevecca. 
His frequent visits were received with great de- 
light. Here he met Joseph Benson, and of one 
of these visits Benson writes, "The reader will 
pardon me if he thinks I exceed ; my heart kindles 
while I write. Here it was that I saw, shall I 
say, an angel in human flesh ? I should not far 
exceed the truth if I said so. But here I saw a 
descendant of fallen Adam so fully raised above 
the ruins of the fall, that though by the body he 
was tied down to the earth, yet was his whole 
conversation in heaven; yet was his life from day 
to day 'hid with Christ in God .' Prayer, praise, 
love, zeal, all ardent; elevated above what one 
would think attainable in this state of frailty, were 
the elements in which he continually lived. I fre- 
quently thought while attending his heavenly dis- 
course and divine spirit that he was so different 



FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 219 

from and superior to the generality of mankind as 
to look more like Moses or Elijah, or some prophet 
or apostle come again from the dead, than a mor- 
tal man dwelling in a house of clay !" 

The Calvinistic controversy began when Wesley 
definitely took the Arminian view of this question 
in his letters to his mother from Oxford. He 
could not accept even "the modern qualifications 
of Calvinism stated in the pious, compromising 
spirit of Baxter." Some contending that in pre- 
destinating the elect to be saved, God had only 
passed by the reprobates, leaving them to their 
own natural wickedness and fate, Wesley replied 
that, "According to this, the foreknowledge of 
God created the reprobate in his wickedness and 
under his inevitable doom, and he would devolve 
upon them the formidable task of showing how 
then the unassisted offcast could be held responsi- 
ble for his fate. He would require them also to 
reconcile with such a condition of perhaps nine- 
tenths of the human race, the divine beneficence, 
the scriptural warnings and invitations addressed 
to them." If it was impossible for them to be 
saved, why should they be invited to come to 
Christ for salvation? 

Fletcher often made preaching visits to London, 
Bath, Bristol, Wales and Yorkshire. Meanwhile, 
Wesley often visited Madeley ; it was one of his 



220 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

favorite stopping-places. Antinomian Calvinism 
was one of the worst foes that Wesley had to face. 
It was both subtle and powerful. Fletcher said 
of the almost general Antinomianism of the con- 
gregations, "If the Lord does not put a stop to 
this growing evil, we shall soon see everywhere 
what we see in too many places, self-conceited, 
unhumbled men rising up against the truths and 
the ministers of God. We stand now as much in 
need of a reformation from Antinomianism as our 
ancestors did of a reformation from Popery." 

The Lord sat in the heavens and overruled this 
whole controversy for his own glory and tho fur- 
therance of the truth as it is in Jesus. Wesley s 
conference adopted certain statements called a 
i 'Minute," which was calculated to guard against 
this terrible tendency to Antinomianism. Lady 
Huntington and her followers were alarmed, and 
determined to compel Wesley's conference to re- 
tract this "Minute" the next time they met. Mr. 
Shirley's Irish zeal was aroused ; he demanded 
satisfaction. Meanwhile, John Fletcher had writ- 
ten Mr. Shirley a number of very able letters, 
which could not be gainsaid, and these formed 
what is called ' ' Fletcher's First Check to Anti- 
nomianism," which were followed by other letters 
of defence that make three large volumes, written 
as with a pen of fire dipped in the oil of free 



ARMINIUS AND GEOTIUS. 221 

grace. Mr. Shirley, the " warm-hearted Irish- 
man," showed more zeal than wisdom, hut Fletcher 
showed more wisdom than zeal. And his defence 
of the doctrines of Methodism remains, and will 
remain to the end of time. Dr. Stevens says, 
' ' This discussion gave permanent character to the 
Armiuian theology. It was a resurrection to the 
faith w r hich the Synod of Dort had proscribed. 
It gave greater permanence to the doctrines of 
Arminius and Grotius ; to spread evangelical Ar- 
minianism over England and over all the Protest- 
ant portion of the new world, and more or less 
round the whole world ; to modify, to mollify it 
might rather be said, the theological tone of evan- 
gelical Christendom and probably of all coming 
time." 

Fletcher's defence of Arminianism cost him the 
favor of Lady Huntington, and also his position 
as president in her seat of learning. But he 
"advanced through these discussions with a tri- 
umphant step, logically and morally triumphant ; 
with a Christian temper that knows no disturb- 
ance, and logic that admits of no refutation." 
Some wrote him privately to discontinue the dis- 
cussion, but he could not. For six years the 
controversy raged. Fletcher's health declined 
during this battle so that he wrote with one foot 
almost, in heaven and the other in the grave. 



222 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Dr. Stevens says, " Fletcher's checks tire read 
more to-day than during the heat of the contro- 
versy. They control the opinions of the largest 
and most effective body of clergymen on the earth. 
They have been more influential in the denomina- 
tion than Wesley's own controvertial writings on 
the subject. This controversy has unquestionably 
influenced, if not directly through Fletcher's 
writings, yet indirectly through Methodism, the 
subsequent tone of theological thought in much of 
the Protestant world." 

Fletcher maintained his integrity to God and 
the truth till he exchanged earth for heaven, Aug. 
14, 1785, not quite six years before the death of 
Wesley. Mr. Wesley's estimate of Fletcher was 
as follows : "I would only observe that, for many 
years,' I despaired of finding an inhabitant of 
Great Britain that could stand in any degree of 
comparison with Gregory Lopez or Mons. de- 
Eenty. But let any impartial person judge if 
Mr. Fletcher was at all inferior to them. Did he 
not experience deep communion with God, and as 
high a measure of inward holiness as was experi- 
enced by either one or the other of those burning 
and shining lights ? And it is certain his outward 
lio;ht shone before men with full as bright a lustre 
as theirs. I was intimately acquainted with him 
for thirty years. I conversed with him morning, 



DEEPLY DEVOTED. 223 

noon and night, without the least reserve, during 
a journey of many hundred miles, and in all that 
time I never heard him speak an improper word 
or saw him do an improper action. To conclude, 
within four-score years I have known many excel- 
lent men, holy in heart and life, but one equal to 
him I have not known ; one so uniformly and 
deeply devoted to God, so unblamable a man in 
every respect I have not found either in Europe 
or America. Nor do I expect to find another 
such on this side eternity." 

Mark the following : Fletcher wrote to Charles 
Wesley, "I thank God I feel myself in a good 
degree dead to praise or dispraise ; I hope, at 
least, that it is so, because I do not feel that one 
lifts me up, or that the other dejects me. I want 
to see a Penticostal Christian Church ; and, if it is 
not to be seen at this time upon earth, I am will- 
ing to go and see this glorious wonder in heaven." 



224 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 



CHAPTER XV. 



WESLEY IN ADVANCED LIFE AND IN DEATH. 

This illustrious man of God was instant in sea- 
son and out of season. He was fresh and flourish- 
ing and bringing forth abundant fruit, even in old 
age. He could truly say, "Leisure and I have 
taken leave of one another. I propose to be busy 
as long as I live, if my health is so long indulged 
to me." At another time he said, " Let me not 
live to be useless ; a picture of human nature in 
disgrace, feeble in body and mind, slow of speech 
and understanding." This prayer was signally 
answered. In his sixty-eighth year he writes, 
"How marvellous are the ways of God! How 
has he kept me even from a child ? From ten to 
thirteen or fourteen I had little but bread to eat. 
I believe that this was so far from hurting me 
that it laid the foundation of lasting health. 
When I grew up, in consequence of reading Dr. 
Cheyne, I chose to eat sparingly and drink water. 
This was another great means of continuing my 
health till I was about seven and twenty. I then 



BRINK OF DEATH. 225 

began spitting of blood, which continued several 
years. A warm climate cured this. I was after- 
ward brought to the brink of death by a fever, 
but it left me healthier than before. Eleven years 
after, I was in the third stage of consumption. 
In three months it pleased God to remove this 
also. Since that time I have known neither pain 
nor sickness, and am now healthier than I was 
forty years ago. This hath God wrought ! " 

His whole manner of life was laid out and car- 
ried out as though it was devised for a long and 
vigorous life. He kept the sunshine of good 
nature shining upon him continually. He cast his 
numerous cares and burdens upon the Lord. He 
carried his bodily sickness to the Lord, and was 
repeatedly healed in answer to prayer. When 
advised to try certain prescriptions, he replied, 
11 1 am not inclined to try either of them ; I know 
a physician who has a shorter cure than either one 
or the other." Yet, after two years, he yielded 
to an operation for a hydrocele that troubled him, 
and more than a pint of a thin, yellow, transparent 
water was extracted, and also a pearl of the size 
of a small shot. 

July 28, 1774, Wesley writes, " This being my 
birthday, the first day of my seventy-second year, 
I was considering, how is this, that I find just the 
same strength as I did thirty years ago ? That 



226 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

my sight is considerable better now, and my 
nerves firmer, than they were then? That I have 
none of the infirmities of old age, and have lost 
several I had in my youth? The grand cause is, 
the good pleasure of God who doeth whatsoever 
pleaseth him. The chief means are : 1. My con- 
stantly rising at four for about fifty years. 2. My 
generally preaching at five in the morning ; one 
of the most healthy exercises in the world. 3. 
My never travelling less, by sea or land, than 
4500 miles in a year." Even in his seventy-eighth 
year he writes, "By the blessing of God I am 
just the same as when I was twenty-eight.*' In 
1769 he weighed 122 pounds ; in 1783 he weighed 
not a pound more or less. 

Dr. Southey writes, "Mr. Wesley continued to 
be the same marvellous old man. No one w T ho 
ever saw him, even casually, in his old age, can 
have forgotten his venerable appearance. His 
face was remarkably fine ; his complexion fresh to 
the last week of his life ; his eye quick and keen 
nnd active." He says, "I am never in a hurry 
because I never undertake any more work than I 
can go through with perfect calmness of spirit. 
It is true I travel four or five thousand miles in a 
year, but I generally travel alone in my carriage, 
and consequently am as retired ten hours in a day 
as if I were in a Avilderness. On other days I 



HIS EIGHTY-THIRD YEAR. 227 

never spend less than three hours, and frequently 
ten or twelve, in a day, alone." 

It was in this seclusion that he found time to 
read so extensively, and to write so many books 
and hold such sweet communion with God in 
prayer. When he had completed his eighty-second 
year, he says, "Is anything too hard for God? 
It is now eleven years since I have felt any such 
thing as weariness. Many times I speak till my 
voice fails and I can speak no longer. Frequently 
I walk till my strength fails and I can walk no 
farther ; yet, even then, I feel no sensation of 
weariness, but I am perfectly easy from head to 
foot. I dare not impute this to natural causes ; it 
is the will of God." 

June, 1786, he writes, "I have entered the 
eighty-third year of my age. I am a wonder to 
myself. It is now twelve years since I felt any 
such sensation of weariness. I am never tired 
(such is the goodness of God) either with writing, 
preaching or travelling. One natural cause un- 
doubtedly is my continual exercise and change of 
air. How the latter contributes to health I know 
not, but it certainly does." Feb. 25, 1788, he 
writes, " What difference do I feel by an increase 
of years ? I find : 1 . Less activity ; I walk slower, 
particularly up-hill ^ 2. My memory is not so 
quick. 3. I cannot read so well by candle-light. 



228 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

But I bless God all my other powers of body 
and mind remain just as they were." 

Again he writes, "I this day enter upon my 
eighty-fifth year. What cause have I to praise 
God, as for a thousand spiritual blessings, so for 
bodily blessings also. How little have I suffered 
yet by the rush of time's numerous years ? It is 
true I am not so agile as I was in time past. I 
do not run or walk as fast as I did ; my sight is a 
little decayed, my left eye is grown dim and hardly 
serves me to read. I have daily some pain in the 
ball of my right eye, as also in my right temple, 
and in my right shoulder and arm. I find some- 
decay in my memory, not in regard to what I 
have read or heard, twenty, forty or sixty years 
ago. Neither do I find any decay in my hearing, 
smell, taste or appetite, though I want but a third 
of the food I did once ; nor do I feel any such 
thing as weariness, either in travelling or preach- 
ing. I am not conscious of any decay in writing 
sermons, which I do as readily and I believe as 
correctly as ever. To what cause can I impute 
this, that I am as I am? Doubtless to the power 
of God fitting me for the work to which I am 
called as long as he pleases to continue me therein ; 
and next, subordinately to this, to the prayers of 
his children. May we not impute it to inferior 
means: 1. To my constant exercise and change 



WARNING. 229 

of air? 2. To my never having lost a night's 
sleep since I was born? 3. To my having sleep 
at command, so that whenever I feel myself almost 
worn out I call it and it comes, day or night? 4. 
To my constantly rising at four in the morning 
for above fifty years ? 5. To my constant preach- 
ing at five in the morning for fifty years? 6. To 
my having had so little pain in my life, or so little 
sorrow or anxious care? Even now, although I 
find pain daily in my eye, or temple or arm, yet 
it is never violent and seldom lasts many minutes 
at a time. Whether or no this is sent to give me 
warning that I am shortly to quit this tabernacle, 
I do not know ; but, be it one way or the other, 
I have only to say : — 

My remnant of days 

I spend to his praise, 
Who died the whole world to redeem ; 

Be they many or few. 

My days are his due, 
And they all are devoted to him." 

Jan. 1, 1790, at the age of eighty-six years and 

seven months, he writes, "I am now an old man, 

decayed from head to foot. My eyes are dim, 

my right hand shakes much, my mouth is hot and 

dry every morning. I have a lingering fever 

almost every day ; my motion is weak and slow. 

However, blessed be God, I do not slack my 

labor, I can preach and write still." 



230 LIFE OF REV. JOHX WESLEY. 

June 26, 1790, he writes, "This day I enter 
my eighty-eighth year. For above eighty-six 
years I found none of the infirmities of old age ; 
my eyes did not wax dim, neither was my natural 
strength abated ; but last August I found almost 
a sudden change. My eyes were so dim that no 
glasses would help me. My strength quite for- 
sook me ; probably will not return in this world. 
But I feel no pain from head to foot, only it seems 
nature is exhausted, and, humanly speaking, will 
sink more and more till — 

4 The weary springs of life stand still at last.' v 

Mark the wisdom of the following letter to the 
celebrated Ann Cutler: "My Dear Sister. — 
There is something in the dealings of God with 
your soul which is out of the common way. But 
I have known several whom he has been pleased 
to lead in exactly the same way, and particularly 
in manifesting to them distinctly the three persons 
of the ever-blessed Trinity. You may tell all 
your experience to me any time, but will need to 
be cautious in speaking to others, for they would 
not understand what you say. Go on in the name 
of God, and in the power of his might. Pray for 
the whole spirit of humility, and I wish that you 
would write and speak without reserve to me." 

Mr. Wesley is nearing his end. Mr. Atmore, 
from Darlington, writes concerning John Wesley, 



HIGHLY HONORED. 231 

' ' We heard him preach in the evening from ' He 
is before all things, and by him all things consist.' 
He appears very feeble ; and no wonder, he being 
nearly eighty-seven years of age. His sight has 
failed so much that he cannot see to give out a 
hymn, yet his voice is strong and his spirits re- 
markably lively. Surely this great man is the 
orodigy of the present age." Yet he was up and 
off the next morning to Newcastle, where he 
preached the next evening. 

Mr. Atmore writes again of John Wesley, "He 
vas highly honored in his ministry ; particularly 
to one who had been in a state of great despair 
for many years. As soon as he arrived at the 
Orphan house, he inquired after this individual, 
and I accompanied him in visiting him. As soon 
as he entered the room w^here the poor man was, 
he went up to him ind said, 'Brother Reed, I 
have a word from God unto thee ; Jesus Christ 
maketh thee whole.' He then knelt down to pray, 
and such a season I have seldom experienced. 
Hope instantly sprung up, and despair gave place ; 
and, although Reed had not been out of his bed 
for several j 7 ears, he went that evening to hear 
Mr. Wesley preach, and God graciously confirmed 
the testimony of his servant in restoring him to 
'the light of his countenance.'" 

In the last year of Wesley's life, he travelled 
nearly eighty miles in a single day, and preached 



232 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

in the evening without any pain. He writes, 
"The Lord does what pleaseth him. Peace be 
with your spirits." 

To the end of time John Wesley's example in 
money matters will stand as a marble monument 
of his rigid economy and almost unbounded 
benevolence. He literally lived and labored for 
the good of others. His income was £30 a year 
from the London Circuit, and the profits of a 
Book Concern that yielded quite an income ; but 
he gave it all to the extension of the work and to 
help his needy friends, except occasionally he 
would need a suit of clothes. He kept an exact 
account of his income and of his gifts and ex- 
penses, so that he could write, July 16, 1790, 
"N. B. For upwards of eighty-six years I have 
kept my accounts exactly. I will not attempt it 
any longer." In 1783, he and his stewards gave 
away by his orders £738. In the last year he 
kept account he gave away £826, and writes, "I 
can be accurate — , Not as I will , but as thou wilt." 
The first sentence was unfinished, which is a mark 
of the infirmity of his age. It is supposed that 
he gave away £30,000 during his life, and Henry 
Moore thinks that this was increased several thou- 
sand more. 

In his will he gave his book business to the 
Methodist Conference in trust "for carrying on 



WITHOUT A PURSE. 233 

the work of God by itinerant preachers." This 
was subject to a rent charge of £85 a year to the 
widow and children of his brother Charles. His 
furniture, books and whatever belonged to him in 
Kings wood, were given to Coke, Mather & Moore, , 
"in trust to be still used in teaching the children 
of poor travelling preachers." All his books and 
manuscripts were carefully given in his will. But, 
observe, there was no money put out at interest, 
and all his chapels were in the hands of trustees. 
So that he had nothing hoarded. "He died as he 
lived, without a purse. He set a good example 
in executing his own will as far as possible, and 
now had nothing to bequeath except w T hat in his 
lifetime could not easily be turned into coin." 
Surely the grace of God triumphed over all self- 
ishness, or love of ease, or worldly display. 
Blessed man, of blessed memory, who will be 
worthy to wear thy mantle ? Who will tread in 
thy gracious steps? 

He continued to preach on every possible occa- 
sion. He was so simple in his preaching that one 
woman exclaimed, "Is that the great Mr. Wesley ? 
Why a child could understand him." A friend 
replied, "Yes, in this he displays his greatness, 
that while the most ignorant can understand him, 
the most learned are edified and can take no 
offence." 



234 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

About this time he preached at Epworth mar- 
ket-place to such a congregation as was never seen 
at Epworth before. Six months before he died 
he wrote, "My body seems nearly to have done 
its work and is almost worn out. Last month my 
strength was nearly gone, and I would have sat 
almost still from morning to night. But blessed 
be God, I crept about a little and made shift to 
preach once a da} 7 . On Monday 1 ventured a 
little further, and after I had preached three times, 
once in the open air, I found my strength so re- 
stored that I could have preached again without 

inconvenience. J am glad Brother D has 

more light upon full sanctification. This doctrine 
is the grand deposition which God has lodged with 
the people called Methodists, and for the sake of 
propagating this chiefly he appeared to have 
raised thern up." 

The next Sunday he preached twice in the City 
Eoad chapel, and held a love-feast. Bev. James 
Rogers says, ''Many souls were greatly comforted. 
Indeed, his preaching, during the whole winter, 
• was attended with uncommon unction ; he fre- 
quently spoke, both in his sermons and exhorta- 
tions, as if each time were to be his last. His 
conversations in his family seemed to indicate a 
presentiment of death. He frequently spoke of 
the state of separate spirits and their particular 
employments." 



held urn up. 235 

He travelled sixty miles to Rye and preached 
to a serious congregation. The next day he 
preached at Winchelsea, beneath an ash tree in a 
church-yard. This was his last service in the open 
air. Pie returned to London for the services of 
the next Sabbath. Then he went to preach at 
Colchester. "He stood in a wide pulpit, and on 
each side of him stood a minister, and the two 
held him up, having their arms under his armpits. 
His feeble voice was hardly audible, but his rever- 
ent countenance, especially his long white locks, 
formed a picture never to be forgotten. There 
was a vast crowd of lovers and admirers." 

In a letter he wisely says, "It cannot be that 
the people should grow in grace unless they give 
themselves to reading. A reading people will 
always be a knowing people. A people who talk 
much will know little." In another letter he says, 
"The danger of ruin to Methodism is, our preach- 
ers, many of them, are fallen. They are not 
spiritual. They are not alive to God. They are 
soft, enervated, fearful of shame, toil, hardship." 

Some would have us believe that John Wesley 
was a Universalist because he favored the circula- 
tion of a tract that looked in that direction. But 
this cannot be, for he was always outspoken on 
the subjects of heaven and of hell, and of the 
eternal consequences of sin, as anyone will plainly 



236 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

see that will search his writings. Dr. M. Buckley 
quotes the following : — 

"In a sermon on Jer. viii, 22, written in Dub- 
lin, July 2, 1789, two years and three months 
after he republished this tract, Wesley says, 
' Then, if you have any desire to escape the dam- 
nation of hell, give all you can; otherwise I can 
have no more hope of your salvation than of that 
of Judas Iscariot. I call God to record upon my 
soul that I advise no more than I practice. * * * 
Still 

; I give up every plea beside, 
Lord, I am damned ! but Thou hast died.' " 

4 'See his terrible sermon on 'The Eich Fool/ 
written at Balham, Feb. 19, 1790 : ' How replete 
with folly and madness is every part of this won- 
derful soliloquy ! Eat and drink ! Will thy spirit 
then eat and drink? Yea, but not of earthly 
food. Thou wilt soon eat livid flame, and drink 
of the lake of fire burning with brimstone. But 
wilt thou then drink and be merry? Nay, there 
will be no mirth in those horrid shades. Those 
caverns will resound with no music, but weeping 
and wailing and gnashing of teeth ! ' ' 

In a letter to Adam Clarke, Nov. 26, 1790, he 
writes, "To retain the grace of God is much more 
than to gain it ; hardly one in three does this. 
And this should be strongly and explicitly urged 



HIS TWO PRINCIPLES. 237 

upon all who have tasted of perfect love. If we 
can prove that any of our local preachers or lead- 
ers, either directly or indirectly, speak against it, 
let him be a local preacher or leader no longer. 
I doubt whether he should continue in the Society. 
Because he that could speak thus in our congre- 
gations, cannot be an honest man." 

On the separation from the Church he writes, 
1 ' I never had any design of separating from the 
Church. I have no such design now. I do not 
believe the Methodists in general design it when 
I am no more seen. I do, and will do, all that is 
in my power to prevent such an event. Never- 
theless, in spite of all that I can do, many of 
them will separate from it. These will be so bold 
and injudicious as to form a separate party. I 
declare once more that I live and die a member of 
the Church of England, and that none who regard 
my judgment or advice will ever separate from it." 

But while he did not separate from the Church, 
he decidedly varied from the order of her exer- 
cises in preaching in the open air, praying extem- 
pore, forming Societies, and employing lay 
preachers. On which account some said he was 
inconsistent ; but he explains by calling attention 
to his two principles. 1 . ' 'That I dare not separate 
from the Church ; that I believe it would be a sin 
so to do. 2. That I believe it would be a sin not 



238 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

to vary from it in the points above mentioned. 
Put these points together and inconsistency van- 
ishes away. I have been true to my profession 
from 1730 to this day." 

The last sermon that Wesley wrote was upon 
faith. He was nearing the eternal world, and 
wrote, " How will this material universe appear 
to a disembodied spirit? Who can tell whether 
any of these objects that now surround us will 
appear the same as they do now ? What astonish- 
ing scenes will then discover themselves to our 
newly-opening senses ? How many orders of be- 
ings not discovered by organs of flesh and blood ? 
Perhaps thrones, dominions, principalities and 
powers ! And shall we not then, as far as angels 
ken, survey the bounds of creation and see every 
place where the Almighty 

6 Stopped his rapid wheels, and said, 
This be thy just circumference, O wv>rld.' 

Yea, shall we not be able to move quick as 
thought through the wide realms of uncreated 
night? Above all, the moment we step into eter- 
nity, shall we not feel ourselves swallowed up of 
him, who is in this and every place, who fillcth 
heaven and earth? It is only the thin veil of 
flesh and blood which now hinders us from per- 
ceiving that the great Creator cannot but fill the 
whole immensity of space. But then the veil will 



HIS END WAS NEAR. 239 

disappear, and he will appear in unclouded 
majesty, God over all, blessed for ever." 

He continued his labors and travels to the very 
last. About ten days before he died, he wrote, 
" I purpose, if God permit, to set out for Bristol 
on the 28th," which was two days before he died, 
"I hope to be in Worcester about the 22d of 
March." 

But his end was near. He was utterly unfit for 
service the next Sabbath, and was obliged to lie 
down again and slept for three hours. He went 
to bed in the afternoon, but after two of his ser- 
mons had been read to him he came down to sup- 
per. The next Tuesday he preached at City Road 
chapel, and then met the leaders. The next day 
he went with James Roofers eighteen miles and 
preached his last sermon at Leatherhead, in a 
dining-room, from "Seek ye the Lord while he 
may be found." The next day he wrote his last 
letter to Wilberforce upon the freedom of the 
slaves. The next day he returned to City Road, 
and requested to be left half an hour alone ; when 
the time expired, Joseph Bradford found him so 
sick that he sent for Dr. Whitehead. The next 
day was passed in drowsiness and sleep. The 
next day, being Sunday, he seemed better, got up 
and looked cheerful. But his weakness increased 
the next day, and he spent it mostly in sleep. In 



240 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

a low voice he said, "There is no way into the 

holiest but by the blood of Jesus." Notes were 

dispatched to the preachers for special prayer. 

But his work was done. The day before he died, 

when asked if he suffered pain, he said "No," and 

began singing, — 

u All glory to God in the sky, 

And peace upon eavth be restored ; 
O, Jesus, exalted on high, 
Appear our omnipotent Lord." 

He desired to write, but was not able. When 
asked what he would write, he said, "Nothing 
but that the God is with us." While they were 
arranging his clothes for him to get up, he began 
singing, — 

"I'll praise my maker while I've breath; 

And, when my voice is lost in death, 

Praise shall employ my nobler powers; 

My days of praise shall ne'er be past, 

While life, and thought, and being last, 

Or immortality endures." 

When seated in his chair he said, "Lord, thou 

givest strength to those that can speak, and to 

those who cannot. Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, 

and let them know that thou looseth tongues." 

He then sang his last song on earth, — 

" To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Who sweetly all agree—" 

Full of happiness, but utterly exhausted, he 

was put to bed, where, after a short but quiet 



THE DYING PATRIARCH* 241 

sloop, lie opened his eyes, and, addressing the 
weeping watchers who stood around him, said, 
"Pray and praise." Which, of course, was done. 
To Joseph Bradford he said, " I would have every- 
thing ready for my executors. Let me be buried 
in nothing but what is woolen, and let my corpse 
be carried in my coffin into the chapel." Again 
he cried out, "Pray and praise." They fell upon 
their knees around the dying patriarch, and fer- 
vent prayers were offered, to which he responded 
as heartily as possible, especially when John 
Broadbent prayed that God would bless the sys- 
tem of doctrine and discipline which Wesley had 
been the means of establishing. With the utmost 
placidity he saluted each* one present, shook hands 
and said, "Farewell ! farewell !" 

Conflict there was none. It was the peaceful 
setting of a glorious sun undimmed by the small- 
est intervening cloud. With difficulty he re- 
quested them to scatter everywhere his sermon, 
"The love of God to fallen man." With great 
and well-nigh supernatural strength he said, "Best 
of all is, God is with us." Then, lifting his arm 
in grateful triumph, he emphatically reiterated, 
"The best of all is, God is with us." At another 
time he said, "The clouds drop fatness." And 
then, "The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God 
of Jacob is our refuge. Pray and praise." And 



242 LIFE OF' REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

again his friends bowed before God. Scores of 
times through the night he said, "Til praise, I'll 
praise," but could add nothing more. Next morn- 
ing, Wednesday, March 2, 1791, Joseph Bradford 
prayed with him. It was a few minutes before 
ten o'clock. Around the bed there knelt his 
niece, Miss Sarah Wesley ; one of his executors, 
Mr. Horton ; his medical attendant, Dr. White- 
head ; his book steward, George Whitfield; the 
present occupiers of his house, James Rogers and 
Hester Ann Rogers and their little boy ; and his 
friends and visitors, Robert Carr Brackenbury 
and Elizabeth Ritchie. Bradford was the mouth- 
piece of the other ten. Wesley's last word was 
"Farewell ! farewell !" and then as Joseph Brad- 
ford was saying, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, aud this 
heir of glory shall come in," Wesley gathered up 
his feet in the presence of them all, and without a 
groan and without a sigh, was gone. Standing 
around that sacred spot they sang, — 

u Waiting to receive thy spirit, 
Lo ! the Saviour stands above ; 
Shows the purchase of his merits, 
Reaches out the crown of love." 

Then they knelt again, and prayed that the 
mantle of this ascending Elijah may rest upon his 
followers. A heavenly smile rested upon his fea- 
tures. The room seemed filled with the Divine 



BURIED. 243 

presence. The excitement was so great that it 
was determined to have the funeral at five 4. M. 
Short as the notice was, hundreds attended, and to 
each one was given a biscuit in an envelope, 
engraved with a beautiful portrait of the departed, 
dressed in canonicals, surmounted with a halo and 
a crown. 

He was buried in the cemetery of the City Road 
Chapel. Six poor men carried him to his grave, 
for which they received twenty shillings each, 
this was according to Wesley's request ; for the 
same reason there was no hearse, coach, escutcheon, 
or pomp, "except the tears of those that loved 
him." 

Dean Stanley, when visiting the City Road 
Cemetery, asked an old man: "By whom was this 
cemetery consecrated?" He answered, "It was 
consecrated by the bones of that holy man, that 
holy servant of God, John Wesley." 

Mr. Tyerman has well said of Wesley, "He 
stands alone, he has no successors, no one like him 
went before, no cotempory was co-equal. There 
was a wholeness about the man, such as is rarely 
seen. His physique, his genius, his wit, his pene- 
tration, his judgment, his memory, his benefi- 
cence, his manners, his dress, make him as perfect 
as we ever expect man to be on this side of 
heaven." 



244 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY, 

Dr. Dobbin says: " A greater poet may arise 
than Homer or Milton, a greater theologian than 
Calvin, a greater philosopher than Bacon, a greater 
dramatist than any of ancient or modern fame ; 
but a more distinguished revivalist of Churches 
than John Wesley, never ! " 



HIS CHARACTER. 245 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE CHARACTER OF JOHN WESLEY. 

I am aware that much of what I have written 
already relates to the character of Mr. Wesley. 
Yet there are certain writers of notoriety that 
ought to have a special notice. Wilberforce said, 
"I consider Wesley as the most influential mind 
of the last century, — the man who will have pro- 
duced the greatest effects centuries, or perhaps 
milleniums hence, if the present race of men 
should continue so long." Dr. Punshon says, "In 
general scholarship and knowledge he had few 
superiors ; whilst such was his acquaintance with 
the New Testament that, when at a loss to repeat 
a text in the words of the authorized translation, 
he was never at a loss to quote it in the original 
Greek. In social life Wesley was a Christian 
gentleman, and with perfect care accommodated 
himself to both the high and the low, the rich and 
the poor. Placid, benevolent and full of anecdote, 
wit and wisdom, his conversation was not often 



246 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

equalled. Though never trifling he was always 
cheerful ; sometimes saying, 'I dare no more fret 
than to curse or swear/ His industry was almost 
without a parallel. In many things he was gentle 
and easy to be entreated ; but in his earnestness 
in redeeming time he was decisive and inexorable. 
While waiting for his carriage he said, 'I have 
lost ten minutes forever. 5 His hands were always 
full, but his action was never fettered. He was 
always moving, and yet in the midst of his toils 
betraying no more haste than a planet in its 
course. His mission was too great to allow time 
for trifles. Outwardly calm while his heart was 
burning within him ; with an even temper held in 
almost perfect control, with a fine flow of animal 
spirits, which he says he never remembered to 
have been for a quarter of an hour below zero ; 
never unemployed, but never in a hurry. 

And now to sum up the whole, look upon this 
character, at first 'like the young moon with a 
ragged edge, still in its imperfection beautiful, but 
waxing lovelier and larger until, full orbed and 
calm, it shines in its completeness before men.' 
Think of the elements which you suppose neces- 
sary to moral greatness. Fervent piety, strong- 
faith in God, a self-sacrificing purpose in life, 
manly daring, womanly tenderness, an industry 
which never tires, a benevolence which never says 



FRESH AS A BOY. 247 

'It is enough ;' an almost perfect control of passion, 
an almost perfect abnegation of selfishness, a cath- 
olic heart and wide spread sympathy, a gentle- 
man's courtesy and a scholar's learning — if these 
things make up an artistic wholeness of character 
which the world should reverence, then look at 
that little old man with the band and cassock, 
walking at a brisk pace, neat in his dress and brisk 
in his manner, with aquiline nose and quick 
bright eye, silver hair and clear smooth forehead 
and color fresh as a boy's. Go mark them well, 
for that wholeness of character is his and his name 
is John Wesley and in the apt words of one who 
has deeply studied him, 'a greater, and by the 
grace of God, a better man the world has not 
known since the clays of St. Paul.'" 

Dr. Punshon gives also the following testimony 
of John Wesley especially upon the point of 
honor. "Neither can I do more than mention the 
gradual growth of honor which sat upon his fore- 
head like a crown ; how prejudice changed into 
respect, and troops of friends gave reverance in 
his kindly age ; how John Howard blest his loving 
words, and under their inspiration, went forth to 
his prison journey with greater heart than ever. 
How Bishop Lowth sat at his feet and hoped that 
he might be found there in another world. How 
Samuel Johnson delighted in his conversation ; how 



248 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

Alexander Knox kindled in rapture as he recalled 
the fine old man, with a child's heart and a seraph's 
faith ; realizing his notion of angelic goodness, 
and finally, how, in perfect peace and leaving a 
reformed nation and a flourishing church as his 
monument, the good John Wesley died." 

Mr. Alexander Knox said when Wesley was 
eighty-six years of age, "I was delighted to find 
his cheerfulness in no respect abated. It was too 
obvious that his bodily frame was sinking, but his 
spirit was as alert as ever, and he was little less 
the life of the company he happened to be in than 
he had been three and twenty years before, when I 
first knew him. Such unclouded sunshine in the 
deepest winter of age, and on the very verge of 
eternity, bespoke a mind whose recollections were 
as unsullied as its present sensations were serene. 
Dr. Conybeare said, "John Wesley will always 
be thought a man of sound sense, though an 
enthusiast." 

Dr. Thomas Coke, LL. D., in a funeral ser- 
mon preached in Baltimore and in Philadelphia 
said, in describing the character of Wesley : 

1. Notice his communion with God; very few 
alive have enjoyed more opportunities than I of 
observing his private walk with God. For months 
together we have resided under the same roof. 
For weeks I have been with him continually for 



BEXT FOR GOD. 249 

twenty-two or more hours of the day. The first 
hour in the morning he consecrated to solemn 
prayer and meditation ; and indeed all his employ- 
ment was of such a nature, whether he was en- 
gaged in public or in private, in preaching or visit- 
ing the sick, in composition or in correspondence, 
as led him immediately to God. His mind seemed 
bent for God, except during the little time he 
daily allowed for his friends and his meals, and 
then, though most agreeable of companions, every 
anecdote that he related so illustrated his subject, 
and indeed the whole of his conversation, directly 
tended to the improvement of the mind. But 
sometimes on these occasions he would break 
forth with such an unction and such a power, as 
would devote the minds of the company to heaven- 
ly things, more perhaps than the most elegant 
sermons. 

2. His crucifixion to the world no one can 
doubt that is the least acquainted with the tenor 
of his life. The employment he delighted in 
above every other, abstractedly from the will of 
God and the happiness of his fellow-creatures was 

k In academic groves to seek for truth,' 
to search the records of antiquity, and converse 
with the mighty dead in the groves and gardens 
of Oxford. He had a handsome settlement as 
Fellow of a college ; and such authority as would 



250 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

have enabled him to enjoy his philosophic pleas- 
ures to their utmost extent. His mind was exactly 
formed for the obstrusest studies, but he sacrificed 
the whole to the will of God and the insatiable 
desire of his soul for doing good. 

3. His self-denial also kept equal pace with 
all the other fruits of true religion. For three 
years while in Georgia he lived on nothing but 
vegetables, milk and water. Sometimes, when 
the work demanded it, he would endure exquisite 
hardships for the want of food ; even to the sup- 
porting himself and his fellow travellers on the 
very berries which grew upon the hedges of the 
field. His whole life was perfect order and reg- 
ularity, so that, his friend said 'he moves like a 
clock.' 

4. His boldness and fidelity in reproof have 
perhaps been equalled but by few. All that read 
his writings, or that attended his ministry, will 
know how he freed himself from the blood of all 
men, both rich and poor. 

5. His singleness of eye throughout the whole, 
made one of the most shining traits of his life. 
No one could pass a full judgment on this, but 
those who were his most intimate acquaintances, 
and were enabled to take so minute a view of his 
proceedings as to connect whole series of actions, 
and draw their inference accordingly. And such 



AN EXCESS OF MERCY. 251 

a view taken for many years, I can without hesita- 
tion declare that I never knew one, concerning 
whom I could form any mature judgment that 
sacrificed ease, pleasure, profit, friends to the wel- 
fare of the church of Christ with so much freedom 
as Mr. Wesley. Nay, those sacrifices were made 
with such perfect liberty as to be rendered on that 
very account quite hid from the inattentive ob- 
server; and yet, few, if any, could feel more 
sensibly than he ; he was formed for friendship. 

6. His benevolence was unbounded. Thous- 
ands of poor will remember him with grateful 
acknowledgements, while life continues. All that 
he gained by the circulation of his writings was 
laid out in this blessed channel. Sometimes, 
indeed, the love which believeth and hopeth all 
things, of which he had so large a share, laid him 
open to impositions ; and wisdom then slept at the 
door of love ; and if there was any fault in his 
public character, it was an excess of mercy. 

7. But how shall I describe his labors. Fol- 
low him for two generations, for nearly sixty 
years, from country to country, from kingdom to 
kingdom, crying to hundreds of thousands : 
' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
be saved!' And this was the burden of his 
discourse, — faith in Jesus Christ, the faith that 
works by love, while his congregation hung upon 



252 LITE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

his lips, and were delighted with the music of 
his voice. 

Again, how shall I describe the labors of his 
pen ! How follow him through a hundred volumes 
and more of divinity, philosophy, history, physics, 
grammar — as an author, translator, abridger, 
compiler ! How was it possible that a man who 
traveled annually four or five thousand miles ; 
who preached regularly, till within a short time of 
his death, two or three times in a day ; who con- 
stantly kept up an extensive correspondence 
through England, Scotland, Ireland, America, — 
how was it possible that a man so engaged, should 
publish such an amazing library for the benefit of 
his people — for the benefit of mankind ? I answer, 
he husbanded every moment beyond any person 
I ever heard or read of. He gathered up all the 
fragments. In this point of view, I know not but 
we may challenge the benefactors of mankind in 
the present and past ages, without excepting St. 
Paul himself, that he was more abundant in labors 
than them all. For this end he allowed himself 
only six hours and a half in his bed, for about 
sixty years, rising every morning at four o'clock. 
8. His success, under the blessing of God, was 
equal to all the rest. We learn from his journals 
that when he first stepped forth in the name of 
lb ) Lord, to set his public seal to the truth of 



WONDETC OF THE WOULD. 253 

that fundamental doctrine of the gospel, justifica- 
tion by faith, people daily fell down as dead, 
under the power of his word, through the force of 
divine conviction. In after years his grand talents 
seemed to be the establishing of believers, and 
the -goverment of the church. In regard to the 
first, I know no one who was at all to be compared 
to him ; such an unction accompanied his word, 
when he opened the heights and depths, lengths 
and breadths of the love of Christ. In regard to 
the latter, — his government and management of 
the vftst connection under his care, was, I think I 
may say, the wonder of the world. That a single 
person should raise a Society of Christian pro- 
fessors, amounting, at his death, to 130,000, and 
should preserve union among them on the strictest 
principles of Christian discipline, is, as I believe, 
not to be paralleled in the history of the Church. " 
The following beautiful picture of Mr. "Wesley 
is found in WoodfalPs Diary, June 17, 1791 : 
"His indefatigable zeal in the discharge of his 
duty has been long witnessed by the world ; but 
as mankind are not always inclined to put a gen- 
erous construction upon the exertions of singular 
talents, his motives were imputed to love of 
popularity, ambition, and lucre. It now appears 
that he was actuated by a disinterested regard to 
the immortal interest of mankind. He observed 



254 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

so rigid temperance, and allowed himself so little 
repose, that he seemed to be above the infirmities 
of nature, and to act independent of the earthly 
tabernacle he occupied. The recital of the occur- 
ances of every day would be the highest 
encomium." 

Dr. Eiggs says, "No single man for centuries 
has moved the world as Wesley has moved it ; 
since Luther, no man." 

Dr. Stevens is very elaborate, and takes a 
sweeping view of the whole man and his sublime 
character. He says, "Wesley seemed to be con- 
ducting at once, the usual lives of three or four 
men, — if, indeed, the word usual can be applied 
to any department of his life. In either his 
literary labors or his travels, his functions as an 
ecclesiastical legislator and administrator, or his 
labors as an evangelist or preacher, he has seldom 
been surpassed; his travels, his studies, or his 
ministerial labors were each more than sufficient 
for any ordinary man. He possessed, in an emi- 
nent degree, one trait of a master mind, — the 
power of comprehending and managing at once, 
the outlines and details of plans. It is this power 
that forms the philosophical genius in science ; it 
is essential to the successful commander and the 
great statesman. It is illustrated in the whole 
economical system of Methodism. 



COOL CALCULATION. 255 

Like Luther, he knew the importance of the 
press ; he kept it teeming with his publications. 
L T nlike many men given to various exertions, and 
many plans, he was accurate and profound. He 
was an adept in classical literature and the use of 
the classical tongues ; his writings are adorned 
with their finest passages. His, temperament was 
warm, but not fiery. His intellect never inflamed 5 
but always glowing — a serene radiance. His 
immense labors were accomplished, not by the 
impulses of restless enthusiasm,- but by the cool 
calculation of his plans, and the steady self- 
possession with which he pursued them. He 
habitually exemplified his favorite maxim, ' Always 
in haste, never in a hurry.' He was as economical 
of his time as the miser could be of his money." 

Fletcher said of him, "Though pressed with 
the weight of near seventy years, and the care of 
near thirty thousand souls, he shames us still by 
his unabated zeal and immense labors, all the 
young ministers of England." 

"One of the finest spectacles in human life is 
the sight of an old man sustaining his career of 
action and endurance to the last, with an unwaver- 
ing spirit. Such was Wesley. He sought no 
repose from his labors till death. Activity was 
the normal condition of happiness to him, as it 
must be to all healthful minds. After he was 



256 LIFE OF KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 

eighty years of age he visited Holland twice. 
The calm ministerial authority which so character- 
ized him was not assumed ; it was the spontaneous 
; effect of a true and natural courage. 

A fine humor pervaded the nature of Wesley, 
and often gave a striking readiness and pertinency 
to his words. This humor enhanced the blandness 
of his piety and enabled him to convey reproof in 
a manner which could hardly be resisted with ill- 
temper." 

He had a power of administering reproof which 
was exemplary. Bradford was his travelling com- 
panion. Wesley directed him to carry a packet 
of letters to the post. Bradford wanted to hear 
his sermon first, but Wesley was urgent. Brad- 
ford still refused. Wesley said " Then } r ou and I 
must part." " Very good, sir," replied Bradford. 
They slept over it, but Bradford would not relent. 
Wesley said "Must we part?" "Please your- 
self" he replied. " Will you not ask my forgive- 
ness." "No, sir." "Then I will ask yours." 
Thus this great man showed the superiority of his 
mind and the greatness of his soul. 

He met a burly fellow on the street, who said 
"I never turn out for a fool." Wesley replied, 
pleasantly, " I do," and gave him tbe road. 

It is sometimes asked whether he is entitled to 
rank in the highest class of great men. In view 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 257 

of all that he did and said, let the reader decide 
for himself. 

What greater honor could England confer on 
John Wesley than to place his memorial tablet 
among her great men in Westminster Abbey ? 

In the early spring of 1876, the late Dean Stan- 
ley unveiled in Westminster Abbey, London, the 
memorial tablet, in which was sunken in two 
medallion profiles the simple inscription, 

JOHN WESLEY, M. A. 
Born June 17, 1703 : died March 2, 1791. 

CHARLES WESLEY, M. A. 
Born December 17, 1707 : died March 29, 1788. 

No words of eulogy are added, but there is a 
sculptured scene of historic interest which repre- 
sents Wesley preaching on his father's gravestone. 

The venerable Dean said, "John Wesley is 
represented as preaching on his father's tomb, and 
I have always thought that that is, as it were, a 
parable which represented his relation to National 
Institutions. Pic took his stand upon his father's 
tomb — on the venerable and ancestral traditions 
of the country and the church. That was the 
stand from which he addressed the world ; it was 
not from the points of disagreement but from the 



258 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEA. 

points of agreement with them in the Christian 
religion, that he produced those great effects 
which have never since died out in English Chris- 
tendom. It is because of his having been in that 
age, which I am inclined to think has been unduly 
disparaged, the revival of religious fervor among 
our churches, that we all feel we owe him a debt 
of gratitude, and that he ought to have his mon- 
ument placed among those of the benefactors of 
England." And he might have added, of the 
world. Three simple sentences of John and 
Charles Wesley are engraved upon the tablet 
beneath that sculptured scene. First, "I look 
upon all the world as my parish," which indicates 
the secret spring of Wesley's wide-spread activity. 
The second sentence is "Best of all, God is with 
us." This was the great truth that cheered him 
in his great toil, as well as comforted him in his 
dying hour. The third, " God buries his work, 
man but carries on his work," was the jubilant 
utterance of Charles Wesley. Dean Stanley con- 
cluded by saying, "Men take their places amongst 
the great by merit of great deeds. And by tnis 
rule, these men had a perfect right to this national 
and lasting honor." 

"Thus the wheel turns round. One hundred 
and thirty years ago, Wesley was shut out of 
ever3 r church in England : now marble medallion 



THE BEST ABUSED MAN. 259 

profiles of himself and his brother, accompanied 
with suitable inscriptions, are deemed worthy of 
a niche in England's grandest cathedral. The 
man who, a century ago, was the best abused man 
in the British isles, is now hardly ever mentioned 
but with affectionate respect. In the literature of 
the age ; in its lectures and debates ; in chapels 
and in churches; in synods, congresses, and all 
sorts of conferences ; by the highest lords and 
most illustrious commoners, the once persecuted 
Methodist is now extolled. " 

It is said that Wesley travelled 225,000 miles 
after he became an itinerant. He is supposed to 
have preached 40,500 sermons in fifty years. 
Dr. Whitehead gives the following: "Now that 
Mr. Wesley is dead, I may be allowed to estimate 
his character, and the loss which the world has 
sustained by his death. Upon a fair account it 
seems to be such as not only annihilates all re- 
proaches that have been cast upon him, but also 
as does honor to mankind ; at the same time, it 
reproaches them. His natural and acquired abil- 
ities were both of the highest rank. His appre- 
hension was lively and distinct. Though his tem- 
per was naturally warm, his manners were gentle, 
simple and uniform. His labors and studies were 
wonderful. He studied to be gentle, yet vigilant 
and faithful to all. He was free from being; a 



260 LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 

slave to any passion or pursuit that can fix a 
blemish upon his character." 

He also gives the following: "Very lately, I 
had an opportunity, for some days together, of 
observing Mr. Wesley with attention. I endeav- 
ored to consider him not so much with the eye of 
a friend, as with the impartiality of a philosopher ; 
and I must declare that every hour that I spent 
in his company afforded me fresh reasons for 
esteem and veneration. So fine an old man I 
never saw. The happiness of his mind issued 
forth in his countenance. Every look showed 
how fully he enjoyed ' the gay remembrance of a 
life well spent.' And wherever he went, he dif- 
fused a portion of his own felicity. Easy and 
affable in his demeanor, he accommodated himself 
to every sort of company, and showed how hap- 
pily the most finished courtesy may be blended 
with the most perfect piety. In his conversation, 
we might be at a loss whether to admire most his 
fine classical taste, his extensive knowledge of 
men and things, or his overflowing goodness of 
heart. While the grave and serious were charmed 
with his wisdom, his sportive sallies of innocent 
mirth delighted even the young and thoughtless, 
and both saw in his uninterrupted cheerfulness 
the excellency of true religion. In him, even old 
age appeared delightful, like an evening without 



A CONSTANT FLAME. 261 

a cloud. " His indefatigable zeal in the dis- 
charge of his duty, has long been witnessed by 
the world. Had he loved wealth, he might have 
accumulated without bound. Had he been fond 
of power, his influence would have been worth 
courting by any party. His zeal was not a tran- 
sient blaze, but a constant flame." 

" See how great a flame aspires, 
Kindled by a spark of grace ! 
Jesus' love the nations fires, 
Sets the kingdoms on a blaze. 

Saw ye not the cloud arise, 

Little as a human hand? 
Now it spreads along the skies, 

Hangs o'er all the thirsty land. 

Lo! the promise of a shower 

Drops ahead}' from above; 
But the Lord will shortly pour 

All the spirit of His love." 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS 

OP 

THE GIFT OF THE HOLT GHOST 

The Believer's Privilege, 

AND 

SELECT SERMONS ON CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 
By Rev. E. DAVIES, Evangelist. 



From Rev. R. W. ALLEN, in "The Methodist Home Journal." 

11 The Gift of the Holy Ghost the Believer's Privilege," 
1b the title of a work issued by Rev. E. Davies. It contains seven chap- 
ters, bearing the following titles : — " The Gift of the Holy Ghost," *' Brief 
History of the Three Dispensations,"" The Results of the Fiery Baptism," 
" The Holy Ghost Ruling in the Early Christian Church," " The Holy 
Ghost in the Church of the Present Day," " Testimonies of its Baptism," 
and " Testimonies Continued," with an Appendix on u The Three Dispen- 
sations." It is written in a vigorous, clear, earnest style, Methodistic and 
Scriptural, and its circulation at the present time will have a most excel- 
lent effect on the Church. What the Church especially needs is the Pen- 
tecostal baptism, and this book will greatly assist in obtaining it. We 
say to all, Read it with prayer, and it will lead you into the higher and 
richer experiences of the Christian dispensation. The author has done an 
excellent work in preparing and publishing this book. 



From Rev. Dr. SHERMAN, 

" The Gift of the Holy Ghost," by Rev. E. Davies, the Evange- 
list, who employs his pen as freely as his voice in preaching Christ. 
Like his other work* this is marked by clearness, point, directness of 
aim, and * certain earnestness and incisiveness, which will not fail to profit 
the reade. In plain, Saxon language, he strikes home to the heart, 
opening to the view of the seeker the nature and offices of the Spirit, 
and the possibility of entire purity through his influence. The book 
ean only do good, and should be widely read. 



WORKS OF REV. E. DAVIE**, 



NOTICES OF "THE LAW OE HOLINESS'* 

*• Rev. E. Davies has prepared another of his useful manuw* 
This one is, in some respects, the best of his list, and will prov* 
an excellent little volume rbr distribution. It is a plain and well- 
enforced exposition of the spirit of the Decalogue. It is a good 
' counter irritant' to the prevalence of Antinoraianism. One of its 
best features is the epitome at the close of Harris's prize essay on 
Covetousness."— Zion's Herald. 

44 It is a very direct and practical volume on the Ten Command- 
ments. Its special excellence is its earnestness. However, it is 
intended, in a great measure, to be a hand-book for ministers and 
philanthropists." — Congregationalism 

" Rev. E. Davies has added to his growing list of books a work 
entitled The Laav of Holiness. The brief, pungent introduc- 
tion, laying bare at a flash the woeful picture of the decay of pub- 
lic conscience. It is one of the best things he has ever written. 
The aim of the book is to arouse the public to realize the binding 
and practical application of the ' Ten Commandments ' at the pres- 
ent time." — Contributor. 

" We welcome all books that help the cultivation of personal 
holiness. Of this sort is Rev. C. G. Finney's Lectures to Chris- 
tians, whose earnest teaching will benefit others than professing 
Christians. We may say the same thing of The Law of Holi- 
ness : an exposition of the Ten Commandments, by Rev. E. 
Davies; a simple and strong enforcement of moral obligation.*' 
— The Independent. 

"It is an exposition and application of the Ten Commandments. 
The author starts out by impeaching the gospel ministry, and lay 
ing the prevalent immorality at their doors." — The Interior. 

" This is another book on the subject of holiness, by Rev. E. 
Davies, whose earnest soul and ready pen have lor>g since been 
known to the readers of the Epistle. The author treats the subject 
of his work from a different standpoint from w r hich it is usually 
treated. He shows that the Ten Commandments contain the ele- 
ments of holiness as required of us in the gospel. It contains 
much that is of real value. Selections from Harris's ' Xamraon ' 
should be read frequently." — Living Epistle. 

" It is designed to show the excellence, binding force, and adap- 
tation of the commandments to regulate the moral" conduct &f man- 
kind in all ages. It contains many excellent things, and cannot be 
read without profit." — Dr. D. Sherman, in New England Meth- 
odist. 

" This is a collection of writings Gearing on the subject o^ holi 
ness. The author is an evangelist, and the sermons expository of 
the Decalogue are the product of efforts h2 has felt obliged to 
make to bring men to a sense of sin. As expositions they me very 
good. Besides these, there are several essays on moral law, and 
copious selections from a prize essay on Covetousness." — Heral\ 
and Presbyter, 

*' There is much good instruction in this book, and it is de ngned .J 
counteract the fearful immoralities that prevail in the prestM tii»>> 
The selections from Harris MaminoD' ar good and timely.** 
Christian Standard, 



From THE METHODIST HOME JOUBNAL. 

Rev. E. Davies, convinced of the utility of the press, and the powei 
of a live book to help forward the spiritual life of the Church, is en- 
gaged not only in personal effort, but keeps his pen busy for God. A 
new publication noticed and commended by our Boston correspondent, 
entitled " The Gift of the Holy Ghost," is a portable book of 108 pages. 
It also contains nine stirring sermons on Christian Experience, which fill 
70 pages. The book is bound in fine clo'.h, gilt back and centre, for the 
small sum of 80 cents, and is also furnished in neat, substantial paper 
binding, for 50 cents per copy. 



From THE NEW YOKE WEEKLY WITNESS. 

Rev. E. Da vies has taken advantage of the interest gathering around 
Trinity Sunday to bring out this volume, which gives proof of the Divinity 
of the Holy Ghost, a Brief History of the Three Dispensations, and some 
new testimonies of living divines to the reality and power of the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit. This book may be perused with profit by Christians 
of all denominations. 



From THE METHODIST. 

M The Gift of the Holy Ghost the Believer's Privilege,* 
by Rev. E. Davies, contains the substance of a number of sermons on 
the means of obtaining the highest Experience of Christian Life, the 
Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The author is well known as an earnest and 
effective Evangelist, and a welcome contributor to church papers, and aa 
the author of several works adapted to revival occasions, and on holiness. 
Published by the author, Reading, Mass., and by the religious publishing 
houses of Boston and Philadelphia. 



From ZION'S HEBALD. 

Rev. E. Davies, the indefatigable Evangelist, keeps his pen as busy as 
his tongue. He has just issued "The Gift of the Holy Ghost." This 
instructive book contains discourses, testimonies, and exhortations, upon 
the higher work of the Holy Spirit in the redeemed heart. It furnishes 
good seed for a spiritual harvest. 



BISHOP R. S. FOSTER 

Says, •• It is just the book for the masses, and cannot fail to do good." 

Send your orders to the author, 

RE^JDrNTG-, MASS. 

Liberal Discount to Afmisteis, Publishers, and Book Agents. 



TESTIMONIALS. 

"Ihave read the « Life of Frances Ridley Havergal, by Rev. 
E. Davies.' I find he has done his work admirably; no Chris- 
tian can read this biography without acquiring a sharp appetite 
for the heavenly manna on which this saint of God fed and 
grew so strong and beautiful. Mr. Davies is doing eminent ser- 
vice to the Church by reducing the size and cost of books which 
have become sacred classics, thus bringing them within the 
reach of the toiling millions. I have read this book with great 
spiritual profit. Let every evangelical preacher see that this 
book is within reach of his young people. "—Rev. Daniel 
Steele, D.D. 

" Mr. Davies has conferred a great favor upon the Christian 
public, by the preparation and publication of this book; a work 
which clearly unfolds one of the most interesting and beautiful 
characters known in this century." — Rev. Asa Mahan, D. D. t 
LL. D. t in "Divine Life." 

" Rev. E. Davies, the Evangelist, issues a well condensed life 
of that devoted and talented woman, F. R. Havergal. The 
flavor of this consecrated life still lingers among us. This 
neatly printed volume, which is sold for fifty cents, will prove 
an evangelist of peace and faith wherever it goes."— Zion's 
Herald. 

" Rev. E. Davies has just prepared and published a charming 
sketch of the life of Miss Havergal, one of the most beautiful 
characters in modern times, whose intense personal devotion 
to God, and fine practical writings, places her name among the 
immortals . ' '— Grove Record. 

" Thisvbookhas been prepared with great care, and contains 
a complete account of the brilliant life and writings of one of 
the most remarkable women of the age."— Southern Churchman. 

" The * Life of Miss Havergal ' is a rich feast for religious 
readers. Mr. Davies has made a useful and interesting book 
for Sunday Schools. He has given an account of her religous 
experience pnd deep-toned spirituality."—^. T. Independent. 

"Miss Havergal' s views of Scripture are marvellously fresh, 
striking and helpful. With a single stroke she makes old and 
familiar passages yield new meanings. This spiritual art has 
made her name dear to thousands. This sketch will be a rich 
feast for all who love the Word of God."— Lutheran Observer. 

"A small, incisive, substantial, cheap, and invaluable work. 
Who can estimate the influence of this quiet, devout, yet ener- 
getic woman? Read carefully this comprehensive summary 
of her life."— Christian Standard. 

" Miss Havergal seems to have been a person of rare spiritual 
experiences and of rare qualifications for noting and recording 
them. This sketeh is a succinct account of her devoted life. 
The influence of such lives extends far beyond their own 
church and lifts higher the lives of all Christians."— The Ad- 
vance, Chicago. • 

" A well told story of a remarkable character, and a good 
book for young people and Sunday School libraries. It is a 
book which devout readers can read with interest and profit. 
The whole work is warm with glowing Christian experience." 
Western Christian Advocate. 

" We have here all that is essential in the life of this extra- 
ordinary woman. It is well arranged, well printed, and well 
bound, and neatly embellished, and all for the sum of fifty 
cents."— Christian Witness. 



WORKS OF REV. E. DAVIES. 

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, and Select 

Sermons. Price, enamel paper covers, 50 cents; cloth, 80 cts. 
M It is just the book for the masses, and cannot fail to do good." 

— Bishop R. S. Foster. 

THE BELIEVER'S HANDBOOK ON HOLINESS. Con- 
taining eight Lectures. 12mo. Price, enamel paper, 25 cts.; 
cloth, 40 cents. 
" This is truly an excellent work. Most heartily do we commend 

it to all."— Mrs. Phebe Palmer. 

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST AND BELIEV- 
ER'S HANDBOOK. In One volume. Cloth, $1. 

THE BOY PREACHER, or The Life and Labors of 
Rev. Thomas Hakrison. Fine Steel Portrait. Price, $1, 
Enlarged Edition. 
" A wonderful record of God's marvellous works." 

GEMS AND PEARLS, for Parents and Children. 

For Family Reading and Sabbath Schools. Fine Steel En- 
graving. Price 75 cents. 
" Rev. E. Davies lias collected a goodly number of Gems and 

Pearls. Many of them are severally worth the price of the book. 

Read it." — Dr. Fowler, in New York Christian Advocate. 

THE LAW OF HOLINESS, an Exposition of the 
Ten Commandments. Showing the relation of the Deca- 
logue to the Gospel and to the Moral Universe. Large 16mo. 
Price 75 cents. 
" It is clear, sharp, and discriminating. It gives a practical 

application of the moral law to the duties of Christian life, and 

is a fresh presentation of this important subject." — Rev. J. A. 

Wo d. 

DAILY FOOD FOR CHRISTIAN WORKERS. Price 
15 cents; gilt edges, 20 cents; paper, 10 cents. 
It is adapted to the highest experiences of Christian life. 

CONTRAST BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND IN- 
FIDELITY. A Book of Reference for Ministers and Christian 
Workers. Price, paper, 20 cents; cloth, 40 cents. 
" This book is worthy of a place in any dbrary." — Lutheran Ob- 
server. 

SELECTIONS FROM HARRIS' MAMMON. An in- 
valuable book. Price 10 cents. 

MEMOIRS AND JOURNAL OF MRS. HESTER ANN 
KOGEliS. Condensed and combined. Price, cloth, 50 cents. 

LIFE OF FRANCES RIDLEY HAYERGAL. With 
choice selections from her writings. Price only 50 cents; gilt, 75 cts. 
" No Christian can read this biography without acquiring a sharp 

appetite for the heavenly manna on which this saint of God fed, and grew 

so strong and beautiful." — Rev. D. Steele, D.D. 

Any book sent by mail on receipt of price. 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, Reading, Mass. 



THE BOY PREACHER; 

OE, 

THE LIFE AND LABORS OF REV. THOMAS HARRISON. 

With sketches of the most remarkable Revivals in 
which he has been engaged. 

Fine Steel Portrait, • Price $1.00. 

" The remarkable labors of Mr. Harrison, the young revivalist, 
are fully described in this volume, and by the practiced pen of 
one who, himself, has been an evangelist for ten years, and 
whose publications on religious subjects are favorably known to 
many of our readers. The fame of the extraordinary results 
of the several religious awakenings with which Mr. Harrison 
has been connected, will undoubtedly make no little demand for 
this book. A portrait of Mr. Harrison accompanies the 
volume." 



LIFE, JOURNAL, AND SPIRITUAL LETTERS 

OF 

MRS. HESTER ANN ROGERS. 

Condensed and combined. Price 50 cents. 

This deeply spiritual book will greatly help all who are 
panting for heart purity, and all who are seeking to be estab- 
lished in the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification. 



The Contrast between Infidelity and Chris- 
tianity, AS SEEN FROM THE STANDPOINT OF DEATH 

Bed Testimonies. Price, cloth, 40 cts. 

A BOOK OF REFERENCE FOR MINISTERS AND CHRISTIAN WORKERS. 

" These testimonies of Christians and Infidels are of the best 
loofic to prove the immortality of the soul and the divinity of the 
Christian religion. This hook is w <or thy of a place in any lib- 
rary," — Lutheran Observer, 

Gems and Pearls for Parents and Children. 

For Family Heading and Sabbath Schools. Fine 

steel engraving. Price 75 cts. 

A fine selection of original and selected articles, any 
one of a number of which is worth the price of the 
book. 

The Law of Holiness* An Exposition of the 
Ten Commandments. Showing the Relation of the 
Decalogue to the Gospel and to the Moral Universe. 
Also, in same vol., an abridgment of Harris's Prize 
Essay on Covetousness. Large I61110. Price 75 cts. 
This book is designed to check the awful tide of im- 
morality that is flooding the land and the world, and to 
6how the eternal obligation of the moral law, and to be 
a handbook for ministers and philanthropists. It should 
be widely circulated and diligently read, and cannot fail 
to do good. 

Me Leadeth 31e ; or, The Personal Narrative, 
Religious Experience, and Christian Labors, of 
Rev. E. Davies. 12mo. Fine steel engraving. 
Price $1.00. 
This is a life portrait of an earnest, successful laborer 

in the Gospel field. Its thrilling incidents have melted 

and fired many hearts. 

The Life and Sufferings of Lizzie O. Smith. 

12mo. Enamel paper covers, 35 cts. 
Miss Smith has lain upon her bed for forty years, and 
is poor. This book is published for her benefit. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, AT THK 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, HEADING, MASS. 

On sale by J. P. Magek, Boston; Phillips & Hunt, 805 
Broadwav, New York; IIlTCnCOCK & WALDEN, Cincinnati ititf 
Chicago;" Rev. A. Gather, 921 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



WORKS OF REV. E. DAV1ES. 



The Gift of the Holy Ghost* and Select 

Sermons* 12mo. Price, enamel paper covers, 

50 cts. ; cloth covers, 80 cts. 

'* It is written in a clear and vigorous style, and is scriptural. 
Its circulation at the present time would have a most excellent 
effect upon the church. The author has done an excellent work 
in preparing- and publishing this book." — Rev. R. W. Allen. 

44 Rev. E. Davies, the Evangelist, employs his pen as freely as 
his voice in preaching Christ. Like his other works it is marked 
with clearness, point, directness of aim, and a certain earnestness 
and incisiveness, which will not fail to profit the render. Jn plain 
Saxon language, it strikes home to the heart. This book can only 
do good, and should be widely read." — Dr. D. Sherman. 

** This book contains the substance of a number of sermons on 
the means of obtaining the highest experience of Christian life, 
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The author is well known as 
an earnest and effective evangelist, and a welcome contributor to 
church papers, and as the author of several works on holiness. " 

— The Methodist. 

tl It is just the hook for the masses, and cannot fail to do good.'* 

— Bishop R. S. Foster. 

The Believer's Hand Boole on Holiness, show- 
ing how to enter and how to dwell in the Canaan 
op Perfect Love. Containing Eight Lectures 
12mo. Price, enamel paper, 25 cts. ; cloth, 40 cts. 

" This is truly an excellent work. We have perused its pages 
with profit. Most heartily do we commend it to all who are 
interested in heart-holiness." — Mrs. Phebe Palmer." 

" It sets forth the Bible view of holiness and love — two made 
one in their completeness, in clear and cogent terms. Everybody 
will be better for prayerfully reading its sacred teachings." — 
Bishop Haven. 

44 A good book. It is terse, apt, practical, and will furnish the 
young and ardent beginner with ready and strong weapons 
against his spiritual foes." — Rev. W. H. Boole. 

" It is plain, direct and comprehensive, and is in all respects not 
only a convenient but a valuable manual. We commend it to all .*■ 

— Rev. Wm. McDonald. 

•' It is the most definite and practical exposition of the dovirma 
of entire sanctitication I have ever seen. A most excellent work* 
and within the reach of all." — Rev. W. H. Frees. 

The Gift of the Holy Ghost and Believer'* 
Hand Booh* In one volume. Cloth, $1.00. 



THE CONTRAST 



BETWEEN 



INFIDELITY AND CHRISTIANITY 



AS SEEN IN 



DEATH-BED TESTIMONIES. 



BY 



REV. E. DAVIE S, Evangelist, 

AUTHOR OF M TIIE GIFT OF THE HOLT GH08T,'* "THE BELIEVER'S 

HAND-BOOK," " GEMS AND PEABLB," 

"HE LEADETH ME." 



Let me die the death of the righteous. — Balaam. 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, 

READING, MASS. 



Trice 40 cents, cloth ; 20 cents, paper. 



FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL: 

A FULL SKETCH OF HER LIFE, 



CHOICE SELECTIONS 



FROM HER 



PROSE AND POETICAL WRITINGS. 



By REV. E. DA VIES, Evangelist, 

AUTHOR OF "THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST," "BELIEVER'S 
HANDBOOK," " THE BOY PREACHER," ETC. 



'She being dead yet speaketh." 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN", READING, MASS. 

Willard Tract Repository, Beacon Hill Place, Boston, 239 Fourth 
Avenue, New York, 813 Arch Street, Philadelphia; McDonald Ac 
Gill, 36 Bromfield Street; Boston; Palmer & Hughes, Bible 
House New York; T. T. TASKER, 921 Arch Street, Phila- 
delphia: T. B. Arnold, 10G Franklin .Street, Chicago. 
And Religious Booksellers Generally. 



.life of Wm. Taylor, 

BISHOP OF AFRICA. 

BY 3FLIE3V- DE3- DikVIBS. 

Illustrated with a Fine Steel Portrait, Three Pictures of Africa 
and One of Ceylon. 



PRICE, SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

"This is a spirited book by an earnest admirer of the latest, 
and, in an eminent sense, the best of all the African explorers. 

As a trumpet call to the Church, we expect good to come of 
this volume." — Daniel Curry, D. D. y LL.D. 

"It is an interesting and soul-inspiring volume." — Dr. Cullis. 

" We have seldom found a book which has stirred our souls 
as this one has done. There is that in it which will inspire 
faith, courage, confidence. There is a vast amount of informa- 
tion concerning Africa. This is one of the books that will 
live. The author, with his usual tact, has succeeded in bring- 
ing together the chief items of interest in the mission work of 
this modern apostle ; and the man and his work stand out before 
the reader upon its pages." — Chicago Free Methodist. 

•* The book is entertainingly written and sufficiently full to 
give the reader an intelligent acquaintance with its subject." 

"The book presents the truth in distinct out-line, and will do 
good, and only good to the careful reader." 

"This book needs no commendation to sell it. It sketches 
rapidly the early life and labors, and, more largely, the 
recent history ol Bishop Taylor." 

" It contains 210 pages and a fine steel portrait of the 
remarkable man who is pursuing his way into the interior of 
Africa. 

"The remarkable life story of the heroic evangelist who is 
now directing the Methodist forces into the heart of Africa, is 
told by Rev. E. Davies. Many will be glad to know that the 
life of Bishop Taylor can be obtained in so compendious a 
form as it is here presented." — S. S. Times. 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 



AN ILLUSTRATED HAP BOOK OH AFRICA. 



GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF ITS PEOPLE, ITS CLIMATE, ITS 

RESOURCES, ITS DISCOVERIES, RIVERS, LAKES, AND 

SOME OF ITS MISSIONS. PRICE, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. 

Testimonials. 

Rev. Daniel Steele, D. D., writes: "I have read your 
Illustrated Hand Book on Africa with great interest. 
Not many people have time to read Stanley's large volumes, 
and a still smaller number can afford to own them. Your 
Hand Book, scattered widely among Christian people, will 
awaken our interest in the great enterprise of the evangel- 
ization of the dark continent. I hope you will be called 
upon for a hundred thousand copies." 

u Our enterprising and indefatigable co-laborer, Kev. E. 
Davies, has published an Illustrated Hand Book on 
Africa. We have read it several times, studied the newly 
made map, looked at the striking pictures, and it is surpris- 
ing to see the amount of valuable information he has 
gathered so rapidly together." And again,- " Not one person 
interested in Bishop Taylor's work ought to be without this 
Hand Book. It contains ninety large pages of excellent 
reading, ten illustrations, and a map of the New Congo 
State." Rev. K. I. D. Pepper, in Christian Standard. 

%t Those who have not access to larger works will find this 
very useful, as giving a good deal of information in a brief 
space touching Africa, its rivers, lakes, animals, inhabitants, 
idolatries, and products." Christian Standard* Cincinnati. 

u Rev. E. Davies, as a compiler of books, exhibits a 
degree of energy and activity quite on a par with his 
chosen profession of an evangelist at large, in the harvest 
held, where he has met with a large and substantial measure 
of success. For Bishop Taylor and his missions, Bro. 
Davies has evinced uncommon interest; this led him to 
prepare and publish a popular life sketch of the great 
missionary. Now he has written and published an Illus- 
trated Hand Book on Africa. The appearance of such 
a publication just at this juncture is timely, not only for the 
specific information it contains for those who may join their 
fortunes with Bishop Taylor, but for the general public, 
who are without access to the sources of such historical and 
geographical facts as are grouped in this convenient form," 
Dr. A. Wallace in Ocean Grove Record. 



HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, HEADING, MASS. 



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